Love Blossom
by Lilaclia
Summary: Under the cold winter sun, their love quietly grew, and by the time spring rolled around, it had blossomed. [a drabble collection for the month of March 2014]
1. undercover

**Love Blossom**

_undercover_

* * *

Haruka constantly glances down at her legs, not used to her standard tights missing. The air is too freeing. She feels exposed.

She once again wonders how she got wrapped up into this mess, but she can only blame herself. After receiving a request from Yakumo, of course she couldn't refuse. It was her nature not to.

And maybe it had a little to do with how the person that was asking is also the one person in the world who can make her cheeks warm in happiness with a single glance.

It was supposed to be an easy undercover operation. Yakumo just had to buddy up with some business executives to uncover hidden motives for the latest case Gotou had him wrapped up in— they'd be_ in and out of the party_, he said.

Yet, here she is, in the richest part of the city during one of the coldest days of the year, posing as the plus one of Tsuraga Ren (Haruka thinks Yakumo could have picked a better name) and wearing a dress she had been saving up for a when any extra special occasion arose. Like a date at a fancy restaurant, perhaps?

Yakumo steps away from the ballroom with a group of men, and the worry of their ruse being uncovered nags at her as stays seated at their table, alone. To her surprise, trouble arises in the form of a tall stranger with too much boyish charm for her to coldly refuse.

"My feet are aching a little right now."

She can see the man wanting to protest, to persist in his pursuance, when a voice interrupts him. "Still got one more round in you?"

Yakumo comes to stand in between her and the stranger, who now looks like he'd ready to run off, and Haruka is somehow led to the dance floor with a gentle hand on her wrist guiding her as much as the slender back she trails behind.

Once they've reached the other end of the ballroom, close to the sides so to avoid attention, she feels his hands trace their way around her shoulders and down her arms, barely touching her, before they settle where they should. Her hand clasping his feels like it's going to start sweating, but Haruka tries to ignore it as Yakumo holds her gaze.

His eyes betray nothing, and Haruka wonders if everyone else is as fooled by their act as she is.

It's a simple waltz, and they are able to keep up with the rest of the crowd, but she stops noticing everything else as time passes and she feels the heat spread everywhere else. His touch is making her skin extra sensitive, especially the part of her exposed back that his fingers are skimming. She can only hope he didn't notice the first few shivers she tried to rein in.

All other thoughts fall away to her when she is brought closer to Yakumo, his lips inching closer to her ear.

"It wasn't supposed to take this long."

Haruka is a little stunned by their proximity. The feeling of the heat of his breath lingering on her ear fades. She now feels it far more intensely on her face as he hovers a little away.

She gives him a slight smile and nods her head, understanding his apology, but is not able to do much more to acknowledge it than hold him a little more firmly as they continue to dance.

* * *

**A/N: **Heads up: for the rest of the month (March of 2014), I'll be posting a short drabble here daily! Wish me luck. They'll be centered around our lovely main two, and will probably be more of a loosely connected series than a collection, but we shall see.

I've wanted to see an undercover scenario play out in the series for awhile, so I decided to write out one of my own. It would be so much fun; there are so many possibilities.


	2. labels

**Love Blossom**

_labels_

* * *

It may just be Gotou's detective instincts acting up (although Yakumo would protest to say that he doesn't have any in the first place), but he thinks something fishy is going on.

His observation skills are not always keen, he doesn't have the patience or calm to be superior in that category, but he's sure that Haruka has been showing up more than usual.

In fact, he might go so far to say that whenever he's been around Yakumo lately, she was there too.

* * *

"Where are you going, do you want a ride home?" Gotou asks politely. They had just wrapped up a case that, unfortunately, took up most of the day and he felt guilty for taking up so much of Haruka's time.

Although, it was really Yakumo's fault for Haruka having to waste most of her day running errands for him. But, ultimately, her contributions were what helped them save time, and that helped them save a life.

Still, Gotou thinks that Yakumo should be the one trying to compensate.

"Thank you for the offer, Gotou-san," she bows her head and Gotou smiles at her kindness, but that just makes his guilt grow. "I have to refuse though. I have dinner plans!" she calls while turning away.

He nods and is about to turn away when he spots Yakumo leaning against a building not too far away. He thought he had fled after they confronted the culprit.

Gotou attempts discretion as he watches Haruka jog up to Yakumo, but is interrupted when his assistant trips on his way over. A stack of papers makes its trip down with them.

By the time he looks back, once he's done yelling at Isshi for his clumsiness, the two have already disappeared.

* * *

"Sorry to disturb you," Gotou announces his usual greeting as he walks into Yakumo's phony club room.

He finds Yakumo sitting back against his chair and is amazed to see him only lazily wave away at Gotou's words. Usually he would snappily quip, "If you know you're disturbing, then why do you even bother coming in the first place?"

But he hears none of that.

His guard goes up, and Gotou feels like he's in an investigation room, ready to pick up any signal that might give away the guy sitting in front of him. He is once again on high alert.

It all crumbles away though, when Gotou hears a loud, warm "Hey!" coming from behind him.

Gotou's suspicions are confirmed once he sees Yakumo's lips twitch up before the young man's hands slyly pass over to hide his mouth from view.

Yup. Something is definitely up.

* * *

He decides to run it by his assistant one day. An outside opinion would help.

"Hey Ishii?"

"Y-yes, Gotou-san?"

He pauses for a few moments, but shakes the thought away. "What do you think of Haruka and Yakumo?" Although Ishii had a crush on Haruka, he's withdrawn himself lately and Gotou had noticed him making quick calls to Makoto whenever he needed help. Maybe he had truly moved on.

"They're a cute couple."

Gotou feels like he's been punched right in the gut by a perpetrator. He manages to gasp out a half-choked, "What?"

"I-I just assumed!" His assistant shouts in his ear, and Gotou would have raised his voice had he not been adjusting to the shock. He attempts to explain, "They've been a lot closer lately."

So Gotou wasn't the only one who had noticed, huh.

Ishii takes note of his silence and prompts Gotou, "What do you think?"

"I don't know."

* * *

Gotou calls Yakumo to the police station one evening, to look over some evidence they found for their current case.

"I'm coming with him, is that okay?" Haruka's voice comes from a distance, but he makes it out. Gotou shoves down his surprise, and the line of questioning that was sure to erupt out of his throat had he not shut his mouth immediately, and responds with permission.

However, when they arrive, Gotou only spots a bush of bed hair walking out of the entrance.

He glances back down at the pile of evidence waiting to be analysed, his stomach turns when he thinks about how it will be a long night.

The tiredness leaks into his voice when he jokingly asks, "Where's your girlfriend?" At the same time, the chime of the door goes off as it opens while Haruka strolls on.

Now that his question had been wordlessly answered, he didn't expect a response so his Gotou's head snaps up at the sound of Yakumo's voice, "Right behind me."

Unlike before, there wasn't any denial at the label.

He faintly hears Isshi let out a high-pitched squeak from behind him, but he barely registers his own surprise as he spots the blush on Haruka's face. It's too widespread to be just from the cold. Gotou is pleased to see that there's also a hint of surprise on her face. She was caught off guard too.

But he sees her take a breath and calmly walk to stand beside Yakumo.

A small warm smile grows on Gotou's face at the sight of both of them.

Finally, he thinks.

("Stop smiling. It's creepy," Yakumo remarks while scratching his head.)

* * *

It's when they leave that Gotou notices something else and warmth once again swells in him.

Haruka used to have to walk quicker when with Yakumo, but now Gotou sees that Haruka no longer needs to make up for the distance.

Now, they walk at the same pace.

Spring really was the time of new beginnings.

* * *

**A/N:** I had quite a bit of fun with this one.


	3. cliché

**Love Blosssom**

_cliché_

* * *

Usually, Yakumo is very quiet about his predictions on the case, just in case he is wrong, but this time, Haruka suspects that he has no such prediction. He was at a loss.

She could tell the stress of the case was taking its toll on him.

Given, he persistently looked as though he had just rolled out of bed, but this is different. His eyes look far too sunken, his cheeks caving in and his back stands a little less straight and a little more hunched.

Haruka had worriedly searched his eyes and scanned his face more than just a few times today and he had shrugged it off each time, either by sending her a pointed look or calling her out for trying to stare holes into him. But that didn't discourage her, she still feels worry nipping away at her insides.

Yakumo was just far too careless sometimes.

After they finish searching the victim's apartment for the third time that day and finding nothing new, she and Yakumo start walking back together as the sun slowly sets.

She tugs on the end of his shirt, "Follow me," she murmurs.

Her hand trails to meet his and he stays quiet as she leads him off the sidewalk, towards the nearly empty park. Haruka finds the closest bench and pushes him down.

Nestling in beside him, she slowly moves closer so their thighs brush.

His back is inches away from the back of the bench and his legs are pressed together. It's only when Haruka decides to scoot in closer, to lean her head on his shoulder that he finally eases the tension from his body. His arm comes up to wrap around her shoulder and Haruka digs her head in closer.

"You know," she whispers against his neck, "It's okay to not get it right away."

"But this is the first time, " he says, his frustration seeping into his words.

She hushes him and grabs his lingering hand. "Relax." She is both suggesting and commanding him and so he complies.

He holds her closer, counts her breathing to help time his and watches the sunset with Haruka. The seconds tick by and Haruka feels accomplished when she feels light circles traced into her hand and the feeling of his lips pecking the top of her hair.

Her quiet hum fills the air and she gently laughs, warming the skin of his neck, "Watching a sunset while holding hands," she lifts her head and turns to him. There's a sparkle in her eyes that he hadn't seen all day. "It's kind of cheesy."

Nearly groaning at her as he feels his cheeks heat up, he gently pushes her head back down to his neck.

He whispers to her hair, "Quiet," while she laughs even more.

* * *

**A/N:** Just a quiet, simple moment. I imagine Yakumo is the kind who mocks romance in popular media and avidly avoids all things cliché, but hey, those moments can be nice even for him.


	4. stakeout

**Love Blossom**

_stakeout_

* * *

"The roads don't have any street lamps."

"So?"

"It's too dark to come and get you," Gotou slowly says.

Yakumo eyes Haruka as she sits on the corner of the bed and repeats, "So?"

"You'll have to stay there for the night."

Reality crashes down and Yakumo's hand ends up in his hair as he tries to control whatever pressure is building up inside him.

"Of course, bears are never reliable," he quickly ends the call and lets his hands loosely dangle at his sides.

She looks up at him curiously, and beckons him with her hand, "What's happening now?"

It was only supposed to be for an hour or so, a simple stakeout at the rundown motel that their suspect was staying at. But things never went right and they were stuck there for the night. Together.

"We're staying here," he says.

She blinks owlishly, "Oh."

They both try to avoid meeting each other's eyes and Yakumo is about to break the silence, because for the first time he's the one who can't bear it, when he gets a text from Gotou saying he'll pick them up first thing in the morning.

But the old man had ended the text with a winky face. Yakumo's stomach churns. He feels disgusted and almost replies with an insult, but Haruka speaks first.

She pats the bed, "Do you want to sleep?"

Yakumo nods, and slowly walks over to bed, opposite of the side she was on. His feeling of nervousness leaves when she scrambles to stand up, her cheeks stained with a faint blush.

He raises his eyebrows at her, but she's staring at the ground so she misses it. "What's wrong?"

Haruka shakes her head and heads over to the door, "I'm just going to ask for some blankets for the ground, and some lighter clothing for both of us."

When she closes the door behind her, Yakumo feels the guilt making itself known. He'd misunderstood and now he was making her uncomfortable.

It's almost comical when she returns with a bundle of cloth in her hands and her head peeking out from behind. He snatches it from her and sighs, avoiding her eyes once again.

He sighs, "You're tired," and she is, her voice had lost some of its life a few hours ago. "I'll take the ground."

Haruka shakes her head, "I'm fine!"

"You're not," he pats her head which only provokes her even more.

She persists, "I am!"

Yakumo sighs. They're both too tired to argue, so he proposes a compromise.

"We can take both take the ground."

* * *

Hours later, they both find themselves surrounded by blankets on the floor, away from each other on opposite sides of the bed.

"Yakumo," Haruka whispers to the dark.

She hears shuffling and then a frustrated murmur, "I want my sleeping bag."

A laugh makes its way out before she quiets, "This is kind of dumb." And it is, neither of them have any chance of falling asleep when they're so uncomfortable.

"Yeah," he says before dragging his blankets with him on top of the bed. She hears the bed creak and moments later, a soft, gentle mumble, "It's better up here."

It's both an observation and a suggestion. Haruka hesitates, her cheeks warming.

She brings her own blankets with her, almost stumbling under the weight of them, and stays on the edge of the bed. A big gap separates the both of them.

* * *

When the sun peeks through the window to kiss their faces in greeting, Haruka digs her face in closer and Yakumo throws his hand over his eyes.

She once again feels the onslaught of a blush while his body tenses as they both realize their position.

At some point in the night, the gap had disappeared and their limbs entangled.

Haruka experimentally moves her leg and feels her skin brush Yakumo's pants. It was wedged in between both of Yakumo's legs. She stops moving it.

She feels Yakumo's chest relax under her hands, and almost lets out a surprised squeak when she is pulled in closer.

Moments pass as they both adjust to their position and all plans of further action (aka getting the hell out of the cheap motel) were thrown out of Haruka's head when she feels Yakumo trace circles into her back. She lets out a pleased hum and smiles at how warm her insides feel.

"You know," she drawls, "You always call me stubborn."

"That's because you are."

"Yeah, but so are you." After all, his refusal to comply landed them both on the ground.

Yakumo pokes her nose.

"That doesn't matter right now," he says.

"Yeah," she agrees.

He pokes her in the nose again.

She places a kiss on his collarbone in return.

* * *

**A/N: **It really just turned 12. I will likely never post another this early.

I was actually laughing out loud while writing some parts of this. Thankfully, I toned down the awkward or else this would've just turned into a (attempt at a) comedic piece.


	5. agreement

**Love Blossom**

_agreement_

* * *

She tries to ease into the topic, "About what happened today..."

"Yes?" he prompts from his couch.

Her toes curl with nervousness. "Gotou didn't appreciate it."

His eyebrows scrunch together and she wants to smooth it out, but she has things to say.

Deciding it's for the best, she changes direction. "You like to speak in riddles," she says.

Yakumo sighs, his hand scratching his head. "If either of us has ever spoken in riddles, then it's you right now."

Haruka would have poked him in the ribs had she been closer. She sends a menacing look to the other side of the table for Yakumo and then glares at the ground instead. He is right though, she's doing this wrong. That is exactly what she had been scared of.

She feels his hand gently lay over hers that's lying on the table. He tries to make his face as gentle as possible and that sends something warm rippling through her. With one quick squeeze of her fingers, he retracts his hand, waiting.

Air builds up in her chest and she slowly releases it, calming herself.

"I know you don't like sharing case details until you're sure, but sometimes," she falters and then finds strength in his face. He is listening. Yakumo is paying attention. "You need to share."

"Okay," he says.

She continues, "Gotou always has to guess your thoughts through your actions, and it's not fair." She matches his gaze, trying to convey her seriousness with her eyes, "It's not. And I'm sure he would rather hear something then nothing."

Her voice loses some of its conviction and Yakumo barely catches her next words, "Anything is better than nothing."

She shakes her head, "But I don't want to talk about cases. This isn't about cases," Her voice is frustrated as she tries to explain. She steadies her breathing once more. "This is about us."

Her words carry weight and in return, Yakumo straightens in his seat.

"I don't want to be left in the dark." Her quiet voice carries a tinge of sadness. "I want you to talk to me." Yakumo feels a pang in his insides.

A heavy silence envelopes both of them. Haruka no longer has the strength to continue and hopes Yakumo understands what she is trying to convey.

He mulls over her words, and he understands. In fact, he's sure he understands more than she thinks.

"It's not just you though." His voice breaks the silence.

"Huh?"

"You're troublesome when you share your problems." It comes out like a fact and Haruka hangs her head in shame. His voice gentles and she looks up to see a sad smile on his face, "But you're even more troublesome when you keep them to yourself."

Silence once again makes its way over them as they both think over what was said, and the implications. They had both hurt each other.

After a few moments, Haruka drops her purse from her hand and stands up. She takes slow, deliberate steps closer to Yakumo.

It's time to be blunt and make up for how she started this conversation in the first place.

"I want you," she faintly registers Yakumo's eyebrows raise in surprise before he looks down. She thinks there's a hint of blush on his cheeks, but his hair is covering far too much of his face.

She thought saying such things out loud would embarrass her, but it doesn't. There's no shame. She is honest, nothing more. It makes her feel light.

Haruka continues, "I want to be with you."

She takes another step closer. "So, if you agree to work on this," she waves her hand aimlessly. "Then I will too."

Bending down, she grabs his collar and pulls him closer, but then hesitates.

Their breath lingers between them, mixing, and the heat that is emanating is enough to make her head dizzy. Yakumo watches her, waits for her to do something and so she does. She gently lays her hand on his cheek, closes her eyes and moves just a little bit closer to crush her lips to his.

There was nothing tentative about it. Haruka makes sure that it conveys the seriousness she had tried to display the whole conversation. Her hand manoeuvres behind his neck and she draws him even closer.

When she feels Yakumo's hand brush her cheek, her skin lights on fire and she draws back.

The kiss was nice (more than nice, although she wouldn't admit that out loud just yet), but she had a point to make.

Her cheeks are pink. "Deal?" she asks, her voice quiet, eyes searching his and finding nothing, but a dazed softness in them.

"Deal," he says back to her, his hand light against her face.

And then he brings her closer for another kiss.

* * *

**A/N: **This one's for Kaito-neechan! But I'm sorry, kisses will never be my forte.

Also, the kiss is up to you, as the reader—it can be their first or just one of many. I have no preference, although my ideal first kiss for them is a bit of a wonderful, clumsy mess and one day, I will get around to writing something with that.

This kinda highlighted something important I feel about their relationship and although they agreed, it's not a quick fix since nothing changes overnight (or after a kiss). It's something I like to imagine would take awhile for them to adjust to. But I have faith that they eventually can!


	6. deception

**Love Blossom**

_deception_

* * *

Haruka would never call the one she loves a cheater. But to her disbelief, he truly was one.

Some guys had bet their game console while trying to prove that Yakumo wasn't really psychic (he wasn't), but his scam fooled them like it had many before them. While they walked away, left to bear the pain that they had lost the love of their lives in a dumb bet, Yakumo gained a way to kill time.

When Haruka walked into the room after getting a text that merely read, "Club room. URGENT," she had expected something more.

But he had laid out blankets and opened a bag of chips, so Haruka doesn't blame him too much for making her panic. The date idea was even kinda cute.

At least, she had thought that until she discovered what kind of gamer Yakumo was.

"You rigged it!"

He has the decency to look insulted at her words. "It's not my fault you're awful."

"You gave me the bottom half of the screen. I can barely see anything!" She grumbles to herself, "I told him to buy a new tv."

"It's just your eyes," he says.

Five seconds later, he crosses the finish line to place first for the tenth time in a row.

Haruka flicks his arm as petty revenge and sits straight. "Time to get serious." He painfully chokes back a laugh. She had been the one yelling at him for the past ten minutes. There wasn't a moment that she considered the game an actual game.

"I will beat you this time," she promises.

He shrugs, he doesn't really believe her. Haruka wasn't that bad, he admits. She had come second place nearly every time, even when her part of the tv was terrible to look at.

They are back to the same positions they were for most of their races—the last lap with Yakumo in first and Haruka trailing behind by just a bit. The computer racers were left in the dust long ago.

It is going to be a close race for first, but Yakumo doesn't doubt his win.

"Yakumo," her voice is quiet, barely a murmur.

His face turns and immediately, her lips are pressed against his. One hand is already entangled in his hair and that's enough for him to drop his controller and focus on bringing her closer.

Her heat is immediately gone, the kiss abrupt, and a cheer erupts from her while Yakumo realizes she had driven him off the path which set him back to fourth place.

And lo and behold, she was now first.

Haruka pecks him quickly on the mouth after she crosses the finish line and grins at him. He stares back, miffed.

Yakumo might have been a cheater, but so was she.

* * *

**A/N: **I would love to imagine them texting cute things, but I assume Yakumo only texts on an "only if necessary" basis.

Day 6 means we're practically 20% done! I already planned my prompts and the general outlines for these drabbles, but I'm willing to drop some of them. So at this stage, I want to put out there that if any of you have anything in particular you want to see, whether it be a situation or something smaller that fits with their situation, then I'd love to hear it.


	7. mortify

**Love Blossom**

_mortify_

* * *

His eyes slowly open, but he shuts them once again when he stares right into the light bulb above him. Not his smartest move.

A few minutes later, Yakumo tries again and notices that he's alone in the living room. Tugging the blanket closer, he wonders who had put it on him while he napped, but knows it could only be her.

His face relaxes when he hears her gentle laugh wave through the air. As it slowly grows louder, he follows the sound down the hall and into a doorway.

But the moment he sees what she is holding on to, he turns back around.

"Get back in here!" he hears from behind.

"How did you even get that?"

"Isshin-san," she answers simply.

His mind instantly curses his uncle. Everyone knew the man was too kind, but Yakumo suspects that his uncle's more sinister side was at fault here. He had probably been the one to offer it to her.

Leaning on the frame of the door, he decides on a plan of action. "There's a case. You can come with me, I have to—"

"No, we're staying here," she speaks with no room for objection.

Taking careful steps towards the bed that Haruka sits on, he leers over the photo album that she is engrossed in.

The discomfort sets in even further when he sees his own face staring back.

"You were such a cute child," she coos, not even paying Yakumo a glance.

His hand instantly reaches to dig in his hair as the heat floods his face, "Stop being creepy."

Haruka points to one picture and giggles lightly, "Look! There you are on the playground. Your smile is so wide."

He is still too tired for this so he sits down beside her, his mind is whirring. He is sure he could probably call for Nao to act as a distraction and then hide the photos, but she went out with Uncle while Yakumo and Haruka house-sat.

"Just look at your cheeks, they're huge!"

Yakumo is ready to burn the album. His uncle was going to hear it later.

He leans his head down to her shoulder and groans, "Put it away so we can leave already."

Haruka reaches backward, gently patting his head. The gesture is half-comforting and half-mocking, just like her words, "We're at your uncle's, Yakumo. There's no place like home."

"You always make yourself troublesome," he sighs.

Deciding it would be easier to live through this moment while asleep, Yakumo lies down beside her as she flips through the pages, her giggles never-ending. Until they do end.

"Hey, Yakumo?" she asks, after several moments of silence.

He moves his arm away from his eyes and opens one, concerned at the quiet tone in her voice.

"Can I take this one for myself? It's too cute to resist."

Yakumo groans again and rolls over, ready for sleep to take him away.

* * *

**A/N:** It should probably be obvious that I like putting Yakumo at a disadvantage (aka making Yakumo suffer).


	8. sleep

**Love Blossom**

_sleep_

* * *

The phenomena starts sometime after the incident when she and Yakumo crashed on the same bed after a long gruelling stakeout.

It's not like it was the first time they had touched, but it had been the first time that they touched like that, felt like that together. There had been an emotional and physical closeness that Haruka never experienced before.

She felt safe lying there with him cocooned around her.

But it doesn't stop there.

The next case is an easy one, they solve it in a day, but it wraps up late into the night. Yakumo offers to walk her back to her apartment.

The click of her heels echo through the halls as they both walk up to her door. Haruka is still surprised that Yakumo even rode the elevator up with her, and she stares at her hands while twiddling her thumbs, not sure what to do.

"Do you want to come in?" she finally asks, peering up at him before her gaze darts right back to her fingers.

"I'm out of tea at home," he says.

Haruka scoffs, but tries to hide her smile as she unlocks the door.

She makes him tea. He drinks it, and right when she's about to go over the edge and ask him if he liked it, he asks for another cup. After some hand holding and some shared complaining about school and Gotou (that was all Yakumo), he tugs her hand toward the bed. Haruka feels her stomach flutter with butterflies when he wraps her in his arms and she falls asleep with the feel of his breath skimming her neck.

It's the first night Yakumo sleeps over, but not the last.

He swings by a couple of times a week to visit her on nights when he stays up late working on cases, or needs to sleep away a few troubling thoughts. It always ends with their legs tangled, her snuggling into his side and him breathing into her hair.

Haruka notices that the nights have become a frequent happening when she realizes that her closet has a few white shirts peeking out, a few sizes too large for her, and a few copies of mystery novels lie on her coffee table, ones that she knows she never picked up.

She is no longer surprised to see Yakumo yawning at her doorway a few hours before midnight, wordlessly allowing him to fling himself on her bed upon arrival. Haruka immediately slides into his awaiting arms when she's tired enough to join him. The familiarity of warmth brings her a sigh.

A few weeks later, she realizes that she has gotten into the custom of washing two mugs every morning. They both developed a late night tea habit.

This is when she admits it has now become a routine for them. The thought makes Haruka slightly jittery, but mostly confused by their arrangement.

More shared late night cuddles go by and one night, when he wakes her up two hours after midnight on night with his knocking, she leans on the door and groggily asks, "What are you doing here?"

"I need to sleep too," he says, his voice as tired as hers.

"Why not back at your club room?"

"It's not comfortable enough anymore," he says simply.

She nods and smiles, opening the door wider for him.

* * *

**N/A: **This is connected to chapter 4 (stakeout) in case you didn't notice!

Yakumo constantly wanting to cuddle with Haruka and no longer putting up with anything but that if he can help it. With mostly the cold ground club room ground and his trusty sleeping bag as a companion, who can blame him for wanting more after he got to experience what more is like?


	9. secretary

**Love Blossom**

_secretary_

* * *

It's only her second week ad Ayame is already running late. Great.

She quietly unpacks her stuff, a smile on her face. Taking a quick glance around, she discreetly throws a fist in the air for not getting caught.

The phone interrupts her mini celebration and Ayame sighs. Time for work. "Saitama Police Station. How can I..." she vaguely hears herself say the rest of the question that is ingrained in her mind as she spots him.

Tall, lean, casually messy, and with hair and eyes so dark that there is a cloud of mystery around him.

Ayame quickly jots down the caller's complaint, hangs up and stares unabashedly.

A cough from behind interrupts Ayame from her very scientific observing time.

"You were late today."

A smile on her face, she looks up to Makoto, her wonderful coworker. "I had some trouble this morning." Not exactly the cause for her lateness, but she did have trouble.

"Oh no, are you alright?" Makoto is purely sugar plums and rainbows. Ayame's heart quenches at her concerned face.

She hesitates and thinks back to the twerp that had spit on her car window during a stop light.

"Oh yeah, everything's fine!" she assures.

She had exacted her revenge, after all. A week old sour coffee to the face was exactly the kind of medicine the kid needed. Her timing was perfect—right before the stop light turned green, but she kind of regrets it. Ayame would have loved to see his horrified face.

Ayame shakes her head and decides it's time for concrete research. She pouts her lips slightly, trying to aim for an innocent look. "Who was that?"

"Who?"

Ayame nearly smiles in affection. Ah. Makoto, sweet Makoto. "The young guy who went in there. White shirt."

"Oh," Makoto smiles. "That's Yakumo. He's a university student who helps with cases."

Ayame feels her shoulders slump to the back of her chair, but she immediately straightens herself up. So what? She had been in university herself not too long ago. Besides, dating older (only slightly older, she reminds herself) women was in now.

"He's hot," Ayame says. Since birth, the filter between her thoughts and mind was malfunctioning. "I need to get him on a date," she murmurs.

Makoto snorts and Ayame's eyes widen in surprise. "The closest you'll be getting to a date is the fruit."

"Huh?" This Yakumo was far too attractive for him to just become the latest hot guy Ayame can briefly tell her friends about. Some coffee, a short walk in the park and an innocent kiss on her doorstep—it shouldn't be hard to convince him.

Makoto smiles like she knows something Ayame doesn't. "Look at him," she says before leaving.

Ayame had no problem doing that. She turns around and he's out of the room now. Gotou, the most rebellious detective in the station trails after him, yelling.

"Yakumo, you need to make use of your youth!"

He sighs. "Leave us alone. Find someone else to embarrass." His voice was nice and deep, but wait...

Us?

Her eyes immediately notice a fluff of hair beside him, obstructed from Ayame's view, but their hands are clear. Clasped in his hands are another's, and the soft feminine laughter that fills the foyer only confirms it.

"I see," Ayame says.

* * *

Later that evening, Ayame happily discovers she managed to mend her short-term broken heart in between the coffee and police reports.

The door chimes, and Ayame glances up. The sight of his messy locks speeds up her heart a teensy bit, and she curses her primal sense of attraction before chugging down coffee. She eyes the couple, finally having a good view of the Mystery Lady.

She's young, Ayame thinks and corrects her title to Mystery Girl. She's scrawny and weak and holding onto his hand for dear life. Ayame even feels a little pang for the girl; Yakumo is hardly sending a glance her way.

Wanting to discover just a bit more, Ayame calls for Makoto and asks about the two.

"They're in love," Makoto says. Her words are practically a dreamily sigh.

Now, it's Ayame's turn to snort. "If you mean, she is in love with him, then yes, I agree."

For the second time that day, Makoto looks at her slightly condescendingly. "No, they are in love with each other," she emphasizes.

Ayame is about to protest, hands are ready for dramatic explanational hand gestures when she hears someone call her attention.

It's Mystery Girl.

"May I get a cup of coffee? It's for Gotou-san."

"Ah, yes." The coffee maker takes its sweet time, and Ayame hurries back to the girl.

"Thank you," she says sweetly and something about Mystery Girl makes her think about Makoto.

Her chest feels tight as she watches Mystery Girl walk back. Ayame suddenly feels protective of the small girl and as Ayame looks at Yakumo now, her eyes are a little less hazy and edging more towards something dangerous.

He would break her heart one day soon.

But Ayame's eyes mellow a few moments later.

She watches closely and what she sees is Yakumo's eyes following Mystery Girl.

His head is turned, but Ayame can see his eyes peeking out from his hair and there's no doubt that his head is tilted in Mystery Girl's direction. After she carefully hands the cup to Detective Gotou, Yakumo immediately slouches and his attention snaps to the papers in his hand.

It's merely a ploy, Ayame notices, as Mystery Girl leans her head on Yakumo's side and Ayame smiles as she sees Yakumo subtly turns his head to place a kiss while grabbing his free hand with hers.

If anything, Mystery Girl would be the one to break his heart.

Ayame is ready for the last hour of her date with the lovely stack of papers and her favourite pen when Makoto reappears by her side, points at the couple and asks, "Do you see now?"

I see," Ayame says.

* * *

**A/N:** I try to keep everything under 1k words, and I had to cut it down, so this drabble is just two under. Ha.

I've been wanting to write this for almost four years, you know! It's a watered down version, but writing it was a bit like fun therapy, so I hope it was fun to read too! I even made up a word (explanational). Also, I don't know about you all, but Makoto ("No, they are _in love _with _each other"_) is inner me.


	10. tickle

**Love Blossom**

_tickle_

* * *

Even before they began dating, Haruka held power over Yakumo. It isn't fair.

Sure, he might have his snippy remarks at his command, which usually allow him the last word in a conversation (to which only his uncle was immune), but this is different. It is physical. It counters his remarks; it makes her immune in another way.

Her finger. Yakumo wants to bury his head in his arms just thinking about it. She uses a single finger as a tool of mass destruction against his body.

Just one jab to his side, it doesn't even have to be the ribs, and he was squirming and jumping and ready to climb the nearest wall. It was terrible. Sure, he has now managed to control his reaction enough to merely freeze when she commits the crime, but he has yet to truly overcome it. He is still weak.

Yakumo is at a disadvantage. He has to level the playing field. He needs to.

Deciding it's time for a weapon of his own, he mentally blueprints a plan and executes it throughout the week.

By the end, he thinks he has it figured it out.

* * *

Her fingers are in his hair, twisting and erupting small grunts from him at each light pull. She smiles every time.

What started as a kiss as light as air turns very quickly into fire that overwhelms and nips at her toes to keep up. His mouth is soft and firm like always, just like how he cups her face. She is pulled closer to his body and her hand travels from his chest, slowly skimming his neck that makes him slightly shiver, and travel back into his hair, latching on.

Her head swims and her ears ring and she nearly loses strength, but he is now gone and she can only feel his breath blowing against her face, hot and heavy.

Air rushes into her lungs and she murmurs his name again his lips. The sight of her flushed face makes him pull her closer still to capture her lips once more.

Her fingers caress his cheeks, and she kisses him harder while his hands move behind her neck and—

Haruka's back hits the couch. The heat that had been stained on her face flushes away as she stares up at Yakumo's face.

"What was that?"

His face looks alert, his lips slightly plump and Haruka shoves the heat that had travelled up to her head. Yakumo leans down and by gently touching her neck with a brush of his thumb, he makes circles. Eyes nearly closer at the soft gesture, her attention is pricked once more pressure is applied. She squirms and struggles, but takes just a few moments to slap his hand down.

"Revenge," he answers. Looking at him this close, Haruka doesn't miss the twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

She glares and retaliates using her proven method.

A few seconds pass after the attack and right after thawing, Yakumo clenches his teeth and says, "Let's call it even."

Fingers reaching up to latch on his collar and she sits against the couch, she whispers, "Never," before pressing her lips to his once again.

* * *

**A/N:** I upped the rating to be safe. This is similar to _deception_ because I wanted to let Yakumo "win" for once. I guess you can consider this the start of their never-ending tickle war that would, potentially, continue even when they're old and gray.

I'm not very ticklish, but I remembered one of my friends saying their neck was a forbidden area. Regardless, I still decided to do some research, and I immediately burst out laughing when I saw the first result. It was a male asking girls for their ticklish spots so he could tickles his girlfriend. Maybe that could be considered part of Yakumo's week long "research"?


	11. cellphone

**Love Blossom**

_cellphone_

* * *

"I'm going to take a nap before the case meeting," he says after they both step into her apartment.

Haruka nods and heads to her kitchen table. Remembering that she still has to finish taking notes on her psychology reading and finally write a conclusion to her 17th century literature essay, she slumps onto a chair and curls up. She tries to remind herself that she has faced worse, but it's still not a fun task. On top of everything, Haruka had told Yakumo to come early from the meeting so they could have dinner together. She decides to just call for some Thai takeout later.

Not ready to start her homework just yet, she curls up into herself even further. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and prepares herself to face war, but is hit with a scent that unexpected, but nice and familiar.

Oops. She still has Yakumo's jacket on, she realizes. It might be spring, but unlike Yakumo, she is more sensitive to the cold.

A groan erupts when her hands gets caught in the sleeve, but quiets when she remembers that Yakumo is sleeping. During her struggle of getting the darned thing off, she discovers his cellphone. She throws the jacket on the ground.

Holding the device firmly by the edges, she stares at the black screen and contemplates.

He had browsed through her phone a few times, given her permission, when he was bored, but he had never returned the favour. Or maybe she just never asked.

Either way, Haruka thinks turning on the phone wouldn't hurt. Besides, Yakumo only uses his phone only during dire times. She would only do a small thing—look at his screensaver. Just to see what it was.

She wonders. Maybe his screensaver was his sleeping bag, he was far too attached to the thing. Or maybe, a cup of tea? She knows he loves tea. He had gotten her hooked after all. What else did Yakumo adore... maybe a picture of Nao?

Or... maybe a picture of herself?

No, she thinks. Yakumo would never. He wasn't that kind of boyfriend. It's not like her's was like that either, but that is because her friends were always grabbing at her phone so she kept a simple picture of a kitten for her phone.

Haruka doesn't admit it, but her heart slightly sinks when she sees a default fireworks background. Ah, his cellphone was just as boring as her's.

Well, it was perhaps time to change that. And then get started on her homework.

* * *

Later that night, when Yakumo joins her for takeout, she hears what happened during the investigative team's meeting. However, it is not from Yakumo, he was quiet the whole evening. But because Gotou-san calls her.

It turns out, Yakumo had pulled out his cellphone to show pictures he had taken of the crime scene, but abruptly stopped talking during his explanation as he stared, dumbfounded at his phone. He quickly snapped out of it and continued, but Gotou-san and Ishii-san noticed that he looked out of it suddenly. When Gotou-san asked later, Yakumo had said, "It's her doing," yawned and then pretended to nap.

Gotou-san asks Haruka what Yakumo meant, but Haruka merely apologizes for disturbing the meeting unintentionally and hangs up.

When she turns around, ready to question Yakumo, she finds that he had already fled into the safety of her bed. His phone was left on the table, so Haruka decides to pick it up and double-check something.

She smiles when she sees they're still there—all ten pictures that she had taken of herself and the other thirty she had taken of Yakumo sleeping.

Settling quietly into bed so as not to wake Yakumo, she thinks about her mission for tomorrow: to swindle Yakumo into taking a few pictures as a couple with her.

Besides, it was time she changed her screensaver to something a little less boring.

* * *

**A/N: **I should probably change the title of this fic to "How Many Ways Can Yakumo Suffer?"

Chances are Yakumo would not appreciate her changing his screensaver so Haruka didn't mess with that (I don't think he liked the ones she took of himself either), but I think he can tolerate, and possibly appreciate, pictures of his beloved. He would never delete them and claim their only purpose is, "So I can give Gotou-san a picture for when you finally get yourself in enough trouble that you go missing for days."


	12. problem

**Love Blossom**

_problem_

* * *

Her teeth bite down on her lip. Why is Haruka even here right now? She has class in an hour. It isn't the time to be bothering Yakumo, but the stone settled at the pit of her stomach says otherwise. Taking a deep breath, she pushes open the door hesitantly. Somehow, she manages a bright, "Hey!"

Yakumo is sitting in his usual place behind the table. His head rests cocooned by his arms, and Haruka is about to take a chance and make a run for it, but he moves his face toward her slides an eyelid open to peer at her. "Don't you have class?" His gaze is directed toward the stack of books she holds.

Her throat suddenly feels dry. Placing her books on the table, she sits in the chair. She vaguely thinks that her posture is too stiff, and that wouldn't go unnoticed by the one in front of her, but she was too tense to try to change it.

"Not for awhile," she finally answers. Her voice is too dry, so she gulps. "Hey Yakumo..." And now her voice is too high, so she clears her throat.

As though he could peer through her, his eyes narrow and study her. Haruka ignores him and continues, "Have you ever taken Behavioural Economics?"

A shake of his head urges her on, and she finds herself more relaxed now. "Well, I have it right now. And it's fun, really it is—the professor is great, and he brings up a lot of interesting points that make me rethink my decisions. Like, the other day, he brought up how when you go to the supermarket—"

Yakumo was in his "pretend to be asleep so they shut up" mode and Haruka smiles fondly. Reaching across the table, she fingers his hair strands before ruffling all of his bedhair.

"Anyway, we have plenty of studying to do for that class, so we have a study group—I was there Saturday afternoon, remember?" A nod. "But there's a problem."

"Ah," Yakumo interrupts himself to yawn. "There it is."

Mildly embarrassed, Haruka speaks to her heels. "I thought we were past the age for this to happen, but there's a girl in our study group that everyone else isn't too fond of and well... she's getting bullied."

"No meeting up behind the dumpster after class to have a fight, is there?" He asks simply.

"No!" Blood rushes to her head. He wasn't taking her seriously. "It happens subtly."

"And you managed to detect it? I'm impressed," he mocks.

"Yakumo," she warns. Sighing, her explanation starts nervously, "It is a great group because everyone helps out and encourages each other, but that also enables bullying." The word tastes even more bitter in her mouth after being said. "She is the only one who doesn't receive recognition."

Oh no. She's talking with her hands now. This is what Haruka was scared of. "And it's not as though the girl just goes unnoticed! She tries to talk and contribute, but she might as well be talking to a doorknob because no one responds!"

She's shaking her head and the silence allows her to realize that she stood up some time during her rant. Sheepishly, she shuffles back into her chair.

A silence lingers between them, and Haruka feels the cold draft as she stares at her open palms, fingers outstretched. Clench, unclench, clench. If she managed to explode this much in front of Yakumo, this matter must truly bother her more than she originally thought.

The quiet of the air is too much for her now, so she tries to glance up at Yakumo. However, he is sitting up and both of his eyes are open, staring at her. His eyebrows are even arched. Her own furrow in response.

His gaze is trying to convey a message to her, but all she receives is confusion. "What is it?"

Seconds later, his expression finally thaws and he shakes his head before resuming his position with his head cradled in his arms.

"Well," he drawls. "What are you doing complaining to me about it, _busybody_?"

His words ring in her ears and her lips turn at the familiar term. His voice had softened at the end.

She brushes off imaginary dust from her shorts, restacks her books in her arms and walks toward the door. Stepping out into the rays of the spring sun, she pauses with her hand on the door knob.

"Thanks," she smiles once more to hopefully convey her sincerity. "I still have forty minutes before class. I'll go do something about it right now." The door shuts with a snap, and her smile brightens more as she thinks about how Yakumo had sent her own of his own.

As she walks away, she almost laughs at how mindlessly unlike herself she had acted.

* * *

**A/N: **Yakumo may have mocked her, but he also set her on the path that he knew she would take. Haruka just needed some reminding.

Wednesdays are always a drag for me, so I hope you all have/had a wonderful one!


	13. investment

**Love Blossom**

_investment_

* * *

A lonely raindrop trails down the window while Haruka's finger follows its path from the other side. The rain isn't being merciful, not at all. For the past two weeks, just when the sun is bearing down, the birds chirping around her balcony and Haruka decides it's time to put on a casual dress—the rain reappears like an unwanted old flame.

It is upsetting. She has to cage herself indoors for most of the time, which would be bearable for her, if only it wasn't so cold.

When her apartment's indoor heating system had broken down near the end of winter, she reported it to her apartment supervisor who said it had happened to a few apartments and that their repairman would be back on the job by late April—a few weeks away. The supervisor also added in that if she wanted, she could get it repaired herself. Since the weather was getting warmer, Haruka saw no need.

That was her miscalculation. She forgot that rainy days can be cold too.

She spends hours with layers on, her warm clothes still stuffed in a bag. Sure, Yakumo comes by often, (Based on how much sleeping he does, according to Haruka's calculations, he spends half of his time at her apartment now), but he only has to experience the cold for a few hours.

Still, she now spends a majority of her time with him complaining about the cold. But today, as she waits for Yakumo to arrive, she thinks it's time to try to change that.

* * *

While lazily watching the late night news together, she nudges his knee with hers. "Say," she starts, "What do you think about getting the heater fixed?"

Yakumo's fingers slowly lock with hers as he hums in thought. He leans more heavily against her side as he answers, "I can take care of it."

"Really, when?" Haruka asks quickly, the excitement of saying farewell to the cold causes her to latch onto both of Yakumo's hands.

Her ears meet a muffled, "Later."

Haruka is almost stunned to see him take a nap on her shoulder.

* * *

She tries many, many times over the course of the next two days to get an update on the situation, but each time, he finds something better to do or he distracts her. Haruka doesn't know if Yakumo is addicted to making her blush or if he's just too lazy to do something about the heating problem.

He had said he would handle it, so Haruka doesn't dare try to. But maybe, it was time to warn him that she will take matters into her own hands. A simple space heater would do the trick.

That evening, Haruka attempts to bring it up, "It's cold."

Yakumo nods, stands up and holds his hand out to her. "Come on," he says in impatience after she surveys his outstretched hand for far too long.

She is sure he missed the point of what she was trying to say, but she follows. Her plans were foiled, once again.

Soon enough, she finds herself in bed, hours before they usually sleep. Yakumo grabs an extra blanket from her closet and tucks both of them in, his arm curling around her as she nestles into his chest.

The blanket is nice and warm, but the sharp sensation coming from her toes tells her it's not enough.

"Maybe I should go out tomorrow to buy a space heater," she whispers to his neck. "It would be a quick fix."

Immediately, her shoulder is squeezed. "No need."

"Why? It would be a good investment." She moves back to look at him confusedly.

Gently gripping her shoulder, he pulls her in and entraps one of her legs between his, brushing their ankles together. The only thing Haruka hears is the gentle rhythm of the rain as she feels more than just her cheeks warming because of Yakumo.

Even as close as they are, Haruka yearns for warmth and roughly tugs him closer when she gives in. She sighs happily as her nose brushes his collarbone. Maybe she hears a chuckle escape from Yakumo, but she's too busy being thankful to be enveloped in comforting heat .

"See, I can be an investment too," he says.

She laughs quietly, finding Yakumo's logic a tad bit ridiculous.

But if he is offering to be her personal space heater, then who is she to refuse?

* * *

**A/N:** This is connected to _stakeout_ and _sleep. _I guess you can say it's sort of a mini cuddling series within this drabble series.

To rephrase what Haruka thought earlier—does Yakumo want more cuddling or is he just too lazy to do something about it?

This is kind of a coincidence, because I thought this idea up while ago, yet I'm experiencing the same thing right now but with snow. The week was getting warmer, and then we got hit with a snowstorm. Wonderful.


	14. movie

**Love Blossom**

_movie_

* * *

Yakumo likes to think that he understands people quite well. It is what helps him quickly solve the murder cases that Gotou brings. Digging through personal lives, picking apart layers and examining them to figure out what's relevant which all leads to the crux—unravelling motives. He has to figure out their greatest hopes and worst fears because murder is almost always done out of passion.

It's not as easy when it comes to people you know, because you are not privy to pry so easily, but Yakumo believes he knows Haruka as well as he would a murder suspect.

That knowledge is what brings him to ask her to rethink her decision.

"Are you sure?"

She had forced her way into the room, demanding they all have a movie night because this is a Movie Research Club room and it was time they do something movie-related. He quickly discovered she just wants to spend some relaxation time with Gotou-san and Isshin-san, especially after meeting them last week.

Even he had noticed the redness in their eyes, and the black shadows under them were more prevalent than ever.

But he thinks about the times she let out screams of terror when happening on a dead body and her trembles when venturing eerie locations. "Are you sure you want to watch a horror movie?" he asks.

"Of course! I love them," she says airily.

He is sure his doubt is colouring his face because she insists, "Really, I do."

Sincerity is clear in her voice, but it's her eyes that show no hint of deceit which cause his eyebrows to crinkle and then rise.

"Oh." Yakumo fakes a yawn to paint over his expression, but the surprise is still there in his mind.

He wonders if he really knows her well.

* * *

On Friday night, Haruka hijacks dictatorship over the club room and plays the role of a perfect host by bringing in a critically acclaimed ghost flick and dragging in a popcorn maker says she borrowed.

Conspiratorially, Yakumo says to Gotou that she probably stole it from the university cafeteria. He gets a handful of popcorn thrown in his face. Isshin volunteers to clean it up and Yakumo throws himself on the couch, ready for the movie to start and the night to end.

When Haruka sits down on the couch with them, Yakumo throws an arm around her shoulders casually. Gotou sends him a smile. Yakumo says the only thing he thinks, "Disgusting," before Haruka shushes him to start the movie.

Very quickly, he is bored. Yakumo draws circles on Haruka's shoulder before she flings his arm off and moves away. "Pay attention to the movie," she hisses.

A dreadful minutes in, some random teenager is discovered dead in a closet with mysterious wounds and Yakumo is struggling to keep his eyes open.

A mysterious figure suddenly appears and Yakumo is about to comment on how unrealistic the ghost is when an empty bowl lands on his lap. He looks to the side and discovers Isshin on the ground, a blanket of freshly fallen popcorn surrounding him.

"I'll clean it up!" he shouts after Haruka pauses the movie.

Yakumo is surprised to find that watching Isshin clean up popcorn is more entertaining than the movie. He notices, however, that Haruka does not return his sentiments as she hurriedly helps Isshin and jumps back on the couch to resume the movie.

Her excitement is clear and Yakumo is still miffed for having assumed wrong about her.

When the main character hears a shout from downstairs and then enters the kitchen to ensure that him coffee maker was unharmed (because Yakumo does not know what else would cause anyone to run towards danger in that situation), he checks on Isshin to see that the man is cowering under the blanket.

As the music becomes more sinister, the kitchen cupboards all suddenly open. Typical technique, Yakumo scoffs. But when he sees Gotou jump and hears his shrill yell, Yakumo is glad that it is a technique that can still work its magic as he laughs at the older man.

Yakumo thinks he has taken five power naps over the course of the movie and he groans each time he awakes. The movie truly is never-ending.

He turns to Haruka and notices that her eyes are wide, staring at the screen. It is almost the end of the movie as the characters attempt an exorcism. Yakumo shakes his head, thinking it would never actually work in real life.

He is about to take another power nap when the shouting in the movie loudens and he feels a small hand clutch his. It's soft and familiar. He runs his thumb over Haruka's knuckles and she moves back beside him, leaning onto his arm.

He chuckles. Ah, so she is scared. Turning his head, he hovers above her ear and whispers, "It's nothing. Any minute now, the ghost will die."

A noticeable shiver runs through her and Yakumo holds her tighter, now watching the movie and taking note of Haruka's reaction. She squeezes his hand when the demon dies and once again, at the very end, when the ghost suddenly arises once more and kills the main character.

Yakumo laughs. Gotou yells at Yakumo about respect during movies and Haruka pinches his thigh. Isshin is still playing around on his phone from under a blanket.

* * *

On the way to her apartment, Haruka says in a small voice, "That was pretty scary."

Yakumo chuckles, thinking the opposite. He still asks, "I thought you liked scary movies?"

The lamppost gives her blush a glow and he stares at her cheeks as she answers, "I do."

"But you still get scared," he smiles a little, glad that the darkness shields it. In the end, his assumption wasn't necessarily wrong.

"A scary movie junkie who gets scared easily," he announces. "Who would have thought?"

* * *

**A/N:** Another idea I have wanted to write for awhile. I remember suddenly thinking about all of their scary movie watching styles and wanting to write it into a fic. In my defence, I imagine Isshin hiding behind Gotou a lot but I saved both of them from that today.

There is no specific movie I based this off! Just a few various scenes that I've seen personally.

Anyway, today is also a Friday so if any of you are having a horror movie night, I hope you all fare better than Isshin.


	15. hesitate

**Love Blossom**

_hesitate_

* * *

"Got it," Yakumo says before hanging up.

"Another case?"

He picks up his jacket from the couch and starts slipping his shoes on. "No, it was Uncle, actually. I'll be back," he says.

Standing beside him, Haruka curls her hand around his cheek."Bye," she says and brings him close for a short chaste kiss. Yakumo touches her lips once more, giving her a deeper kiss, but pulling back quickly. His gaze is soft and his mouth is open, ready for words to tumble out.

Haruka's heart picks up speed, but the moment ends when she spots his hesitation and he avoids her eyes and turns away.

* * *

"No, it's late anyway. Have fun spending the night at the temple."

Her hand stops fiddling with her hair, she chuckles and says to the phone, "We have the space heater now, I'm fine."

Her lips turn at the corners, a fond smile on her face. "Tell Nao that I want to see her too, but next time."

"Okay. Bye. I—" she hesitates.

—I will see you tomorrow," she quickly catches herself and hangs up instantly, nearly dropping her phone.

* * *

Haruka tucks her blanket under her chin. She rubs the smooth cotton of her shorts and twists the hem of her shirt. Grabbing the lobe of her ear, she slowly kneads it and then her hands wind up in her hair, scratching it and pulling at her fringe.

Finally, she sits up and grabs a book. She spends five minutes trying to read, but the empty pit in her stomach must be connected to her brain because nothing she reads is sticking.

As even more time passes, she admits to herself that her conscientious has shackled her and the only option is to give in. She decides to talk to Yakumo tomorrow, to take the first chance she gets. It's settled now. Flopping onto bed, she tries to find sleep.

Instead, Haruka stays up for four more hours—for a different reason.

Her feet are too warm, her hair is too sweaty on her face, her mind is too awake, and her arms are too cold and awkward without something warm to grab onto.

* * *

**A/N: **Poor Haruka.


	16. reciprocal

**Love Blossom**

_reciprocal  
_

* * *

The first time she sees Yakumo tomorrow, at the club room—her plans are thwarted by Gotou-san.

She quickly sneaks away, knowing her awkwardness would be evident if she has to be around Yakumo without addressing what is bugging her. Deciding to spend her time thnking about other things, she packs her schedule and makes quick last-minute plans with a friend, runs some errands and visits the library.

When she finally gets home, she gets a call from Yakumo saying he'll be late and not to wait up. The painful twist in her throat tells her she can't listen to his words even if she wanted to. She ends up finding sleep on the couch between late night talk shows and a cup of tea.

She awakes five hours past midnight and sighs when she realizes her first class doesn't start until the afternoon. Checking the shoe rack, she realizes Yakumo didn't come by.

Light peeks through her curtains, the sun starting to rise so Haruka goes out to her balcony to greet it.

It is there that Yakumo finds her.

He immediately walks back inside to grab one of her sweaters and throws it over her, muttering about how she knows better. She smiles at his scolding, catching Yakumo's hand as he zips up her sweater. Entwining their fingers, she squeezes his hand and he looks at her, his face dropping. The pain in her eyes and the fragile smile on her face prompts him to ask, "What's wrong?"

"Yakumo," she murmurs. "We care for each other, right?"

"Yes," he answers confidently.

Haruka nods as though this is new information. Yakumo frowns, not happy with being lost at the point of their conversation, but also the emptiness in his chest—the feeling of dread is all too familiar.

"How much?" she finally asks.

He freezes at her words, understanding what her mind had been occupied by. She squeezes his hand once more, taking note of his sudden tenseness.

Her voice is quiet, even more hushed by the cold morning air. "I..." she falters but continues, "I think I know how much."

She caresses his cheek and then turns his face toward hers, placing both hands lightly on the side of his face. She searches his eyes as he watches, curious and entranced by the brightness of her eyes, the plumpness of her lips and the soft smile on her face.

"I love you," she says.

He kisses her, sudden and hard.

She uses the hands by his head to pull him away, but Haruka's eyes stay on his. "I can't say it all the time," she says, dropping her hands. "I can hardly say it to my parents," she laughs bitterly, looking toward the rising sun and thinking of all the years she wasted.

She had spent so much time locking her feelings away from her parents after she caused her sister's death. Haruka realized only recently, after she met Yakumo who helped her realize she didn't need to feel so guilty, that it wasn't fair of her to distance herself from them, her actions had caused all of them hurt. But she is talking to them more, finally complaining and sharing her happiness with them, no longer afraid to feel. She is on her way to fixing that—herself.

"I know it's hard," she says, no longer speaking of herself. "But," and she finally looks at him again, his eyes having been looking at her unwaveringly, "I don't need to hear it all the time."

She knows Yakumo is the same as her. He is also trying to fix himself.

"It's okay," she says, her arms slowly encircling his body. She rests her head against his chest and breathes in his scent, mixed with the dewy morning air. Effortlessly, his chin tucks her head underneath it.

His hands clutch her waist, tighter than usual as he finally asks in a small voice, "Are you happy with me?"

A smile appears on her face when she feels him relax under her as she answers, "Yes."

"I'm happy, too."

* * *

(That morning, Yakumo says he has no classes for the day so they decide to nap a few hours before Haruka has to head off for university. When Haruka wakes up, she smells tea brewing and blearily walks into the kitchen. Her mind idly wonders how this is one of the rare times when Yakumo is out of bed before her.

Her morning greeting to Yakumo is a dead one, but as she stands there with a bed hair as bad as his and red eyes that could scare the dead, he repeats her previous words back to her.

"I love you."

She kisses him, sudden and hard.

Later, when she eventually drinks a cup of tea, he complains about morning breath. In turn, she complains about the tea.)

* * *

**A/N: **I wonder if the chapter title made any of you think of math. Anyway, this is connected to chapter 15, _hesitate_! I've always wanted to post a cliffhanger. I've never gotten the opportunity, so as small as it was, I took my chance.

In my head, and as you can tell from this fic, they are a pretty affectionate couple. Maybe not in their words, but in their actions. That's seen in the manga and anime repeatedly because it may be hard to pick out a moment where they've said significant things to each other, but you can pick out significant actions (and I don't just mean physical affection when I say actions, but things like being there for each other as physical support and saving each other).

But a strong, serious relationship can't rely on just actions alone, words are important too. So I think they both struggle to find a balance between those two kinds of affection.


	17. overestimate

**Love Blossom**

_overestimate_

* * *

He leans on the bedroom door and watches from behind as she appraises her appearance one last time in the mirror. Yakumo does the same. Hair curled and hanging in short ringlets, lips coloured with devilish red and eyes looking wide and innocent—it's hard to look away from her.

"I'm heading out now," she says, slipping her heels on.

Yakumo is beside her when she straightens and he leans in, but she places a hand on his cheek and manoeuvres his lips toward her cheek instead. His eyes narrow when he pulls back, but she only laughs as she exits the door.

"I don't want my lipstick smearing. Bye," she says.

He still feels cheated out of a kiss, but he remembers what he wanted to say. "Don't drink too much."

* * *

The sun was setting when she left and now, it is completely out of sight, leaving trails of dull blues and purples and bright oranges in its path. For a good twenty minutes, Yakumo had tried reading his psychology readings. Truly, he had, but he decides he needs a better way to pass time.

However, his phone goes off before he can. It's her. "I'm a little bored," she says. "Hey, did you eat yet?"

Taking note of the slight mumbling of her words, Yakumo concludes, "Bored enough to have a few drinks, I see." He knew it would happen, but it had barely been two hours. "Yeah, I ate. Your cooking doesn't taste so good the day after."

All Yakumo hears is a cheer in the background and a nearby giggle. Her voice is low when she finally speaks, "You're grumpy. I'm hanging up n—"

Sure, it had been the reaction he was childishly looking for, but he interrupts, "Wait." The food really wasn't that bad, he admits to himself. He does have something else to say, however. "How many drinks have you had—two, three?"

He hears her counting quietly. "Three."

Yakumo shakes his head, fingers running through his hair in exasperation. "You know you're practically a lightweight," his tone is blunt. "So keep your limit in mind," he warns.

He can already feel her shrugging off his words as she breezily says, "Yeah, yeah. I've got it under control." The sweet music of the dial tone meets his ears.

Yakumo wonders when he turned into the badgering one.

* * *

A few hours later, Yakumo fixes himself a cup of tea. He ends up making two cups worth, remembering only halfway through boiling the water that he was making for just one person today.

His phone rings for the second time this evening and he actually decides it's worth walking across the room for it. Who knows what trouble Haruka might have got herself into?

"Yakumo," his name is drawled obnoxiously and he holds the phone away from his ear, like he usually would with Gotou. Ah yes, he was right—once a troublemaker, always a troublemaker. His tea would have to wait.

His voice rings clear in contrast. "What?"

"You are awake," she observes. He's impressed she manages even that.

"And you are drunk," he states. It's not even an observation at this point, but a blaring fact.

Her phone is snatched away from someone else. "Is this Yakumo-san?" He recognizes the feminine voice and answers with an affirmative. "I was watching Haruka-chan and she might have overestimated her ability to hold her liquor," her own voice reflecting her tipsiness. "Besides, it's really late."

"Got it," Yakumo answers, keys already in hand. He hesitates. "Miki-san?"

There's a slight pause from the other end. "Yes?" The voice is confused.

"Happy birthday and thanks," he nearly cringes, his voice is awkward, but he continues to clarify his words. "For taking care of her." He already wishes he can take his words back.

"It's noth—"she starts, but changes direction. "You're welcome," her voice is still coloured with surprise.

He says he'll arrive soon and hangs up, hoping his hunch that she'll eventually relay his words to Haruka is wrong.

* * *

When Haruka wakes up the next morning, Yakumo watches from the doorway and laughs when she lets out a loud groan of pain, clutching her head. Waking up early was worth the current sight in front of him.

He wonders if his mocking or her pain is what makes her shrivel into the blanket. "Stop it," she mumbles. "You're too loud."

Thinking about how his usual words are turned back on him, Yakumo tries to muffle his laughter.

"Stop laughing at me!" Her loud voice makes even herself cringe.

Subduing, Yakumo watches as she forcefully presses her head into the pillow, probably trying to compress the painful thumping in her head. Climbing onto bed, he nudges the back of her head and she lifts her face, looking at him through one eye, as he helps her sit up.

After handing her the glass of water and the painkiller tablet he had gone to get when he first heard her awake, she thanks him with her smile, not quite ready to use her voice again.

He stands back and watches from the doorway again; still enjoying the sight in front of him despite the mercy he had shown.

"You know, I didn't know you liked my neck so much," he starts, his words already causing Haruka to choke on her water. "You might want to go to the doctor's; I don't think being a vampire is healthy for you."

He ducks the pillow thrown at him and laughs again while walking back to the kitchen, satisfied after seeing the blush on her face, one which had nothing to do with her hangover. Yakumo had to take revenge for last night after all; what he shared was only the half of it and that had been enough to make him avoid looking at her face for the rest of last night. He was sure his face was going to explode before the sun rose, merely from colouring red so intensely.

* * *

**A/N:** 999 words, I really had to throw some things out to just barely make it under my cut. I almost made an exception for my rule but no, this is just like the others—under 1k words, if you count the actual story of course.

Haruka is an affectionate drunk and that ends up embarrassing both her and Yakumo. How terrible for them.


	18. carrots

**Love Blossom**

_carrots_

* * *

After watching a documentary on the adverse effects of donuts, Haruka decides it's time to go healthy.

"Yakumo! We need to eat fewer sweets," she exclaims.

"Sure," he drowsily says and snuggles with his pillow again, heading right back to sleep.

Haruka is happy with his agreement and heads to the grocery store. When she arrives, Yakumo is actually awake this time and is surprised to see her lugging so much green vegetation.

"I don't like green," he says.

"Too bad." Yakumo already dearly wishes this phase of hers comes to a quick end. Despite her words, she hands him a plastic box filled with orange things. "Eat that."

It's a box of carrot sticks. He looks at her with a glare. She smiles.

* * *

Yakumo finds that he quite likes carrots. Sure, they don't sink into his teeth like a pastry would, nor do they fill his body with warmth like a good cup of tea, but crunching into them somehow brings him delight.

So when they are reclining on the couch, watching some tv show about remodelling houses, Yakumo gets possessive when he finds Haruka reaching for his carrots.

His hand stops her. "You gave them to me," he states.

Haruka raises her eyebrows. "Yes," she says slowly. "And now I am taking some back." Her hand moves forward.

Using both of his hands to grip the dish he had neatly placed his carrots on, he holds it above his head—out of her reach. Her stare tries to burn through him, but Yakumo persists. "Let's make a deal," he amends.

Haruka shakes her head. "You are ridiculous," she says, but still sobers and looks away. "I'm listening."

"I'm full. So I'll let you have a few if you put the carrots back in the kitchen." Yakumo had thought through this carefully, some things were worth making sacrifices for. "Promise?"

Haruka nods and Yakumo acts slowly, just like he would in a hostage situation. He hands off the plate to her and she stands up, just as slowly. But she is abruptly fast when she snatches some carrots, sets the plate on the table in front of them and walks a few steps away.

Yakumo watches everything with a keen eye, but his body is too heavy (lazy) to do anything about it. "You should know better than that," he scolds, grabbing one more carrot from the plate. "Don't make promises you can't keep." He waves the carrot in her direction, taunting her.

Haruka shrugs. "But those are the best kind." She watches his hand move back to the plate and she yells, "Hey! Once you touch, you take," she repeats the words from her childhood, munching on her own carrot stick.

Five seconds later, her and Yakumo both stare at the carrot lying between them on the ground that had dropped from his hand.

Her glare at Yakumo is nothing short of incredulous, but he manages to ignore it and he idly say, "Well, I can't possibly eat that now."

His frown slowly gets to Haruka his lips are pouting and his eyebrows are drawn together, and she finally laughs, leaning on the wall for support. Her giggles get worse when she realizes she dropped her own carrot in the midst of laughing.

When she sobers, Yakumo's eyebrows are still together, his hand resting under his chin. When he's done contemplating, he finally says, "I think it's best if we send Uncle the rest of our carrots."

* * *

**A/N: **Because of course, carrots are too much for these fools. They can handle murder cases just fine, but carrots are when you have to draw the line with them. (This is the most cracky thing that I will write.)

Maybe Yakumo's laziness is growing on Haruka? Maybe.

I wonder if anyone caught it, but we can safely assume that the Ozawa apartment has recently seen The Amazing Spiderman.


	19. share

**Love Blossom**

_share_

* * *

Prepared to discuss how ridiculous her professor is for insisting that he is a part-time exorcist, Haruka gleefully walks into the Movie Research Club room. Her smile drops once she sees Yakumo, eyes shrouded by his hair, his body slouching more than usual.

His frown is reflected on her face when she asks, "What's wrong?"

Yakumo merely points to the fabric sitting on top of his desk and Haruka wanders over. "This?" It's his sleeping bag. When he nods, she picks it up and turns it this way and that. "What's wrong?" she repeats.

His voice is somber as he turns it inside out and points once more, "This is."

A large gash at the bottom of the sleeping bag stares back at her. She gently touches the rip and sees the frayed ends. Of course, he had worn it out. It was only a matter of time.

"Just get a new one." Haruka shrugs. "If you want, I can go with you to pick one up after my next class."

He drops his head in hands. "Of course. How could I expect a mind as simple as hers to understand," he murmurs to himself.

Haruka pokes his side, freezing him, and ignores the glare that always follows as her mind is elsewhere.

* * *

In the morning, Yakumo awakes alone which he finds none too surprising; she usually left for classes before he woke. Leaving, Haruka's apartment, he heads to his club room. He hears a muted grumbling coming from inside and is ready to scare off intruders when he opens the door.

There, he finds Haruka sitting in his usual spot, behind the table. Yakumo knows he would usually complain about his spot being taken, but he stays quiet because atop the table sits a sewing machine—the source of the noise. Soon, he drags a spare chair and watches from beside her as she works away, hardly sparing him a glance.

When she finally hands him his sleeping bag, all patched up, his eyes brighten.

He notices her appraising his face and he turns away suddenly, his cheeks warm. A hand on his cheek is all it takes for him to look back at her. "Thank you," he quietly murmurs, pressing his lips to her forehead.

* * *

The next day, Haruka walks in on an unfortunately familiar scene.

"Did the rip open up?" she asks, nervous that her hard work had gone to waste.

"No."

"Is there a new rip?"

"Yes," he answers, scratching his head in exasperation.

"I can fix it," she says proudly, eyes brightening as she realizes she acquired a new skill overnight.

To her surprise, he shakes his head. "It will just keep happening," he says in a low tone. He stares unwaveringly into her eyes as he says,"I'm not so thick-headed that I don't know when to give up." It almost makes Haruka stand up and defend herself, but she is more thankful to hear him speak in a voice that is not upset.

Instead, she says, "We can go buy a replacement?"

"Sure," he says. Haruka is about to stand up when his voice stops her. "I think it deserves a funeral."

No longer is he talking about the new sleeping bag. She almost sighs, but then thinks about the way she had acted years ago when her favourite soccer ball had one too many patches, and starts to nod instead. "What do you have in mind? She asks.

"One last night together."

* * *

Yakumo refused to look for a replacement until the funeral, and Haruka complied. He had also insisted on bringing his worn sleeping bag over to her apartment. Once again, Haruka complied.

When Haruka stands up from her spot on the couch, about to head to bed, she feels Yakumo's hand on her wrist.

"Do you want to do something fun?" His words are met with a quizzical look.

A short time later, Haruka finds herself standing in front of Yakumo's sleeping bag as he crawls in. It's a sight she has seen many times before and she smiles softly at it. However, the moment is ruined when she has to stifle another yawn and she is reminded of her tiredness. Her tone is sharp when she asks, "Why am I here?"

"To have fun," he says simply. His fingers coil around her wrist and she is tugged down. Yakumo gently tucks her in, making sure her hair doesn't get caught in the zipper as they both settle in.

"We fit," he remarks, his tone bright. Her heart warms and bleeds over to the rest of her. It prompts her to turn her body to face his side. A hand slowly moves around him and he places on over her waist. Her other hand curls in his hair and he lifts the hem of her shirt to trace aimlessly on her bare skin. It is warm inside the sleeping bag, but she still has to put effort into containing a shiver.

"I thought we were going to do something fun, Yakumo." She angles her face down and away from him, the blush on her cheeks would surely give away that her words are only half-hearted.

His voice is already ridden with sleep, "What do you mean?" Haruka feels his chest move as he smothers a yawn. "How else would you describe sleeping in here?"

Her mind is too occupied to come up with a smart remark. "Not this," she simply states, her voice light with oncoming sleep.

"Stop making unnecessary comments," he says.

Or he could more appropriately call them reasonable accusations, but even Haruka doesn't have enough willpower to keep teasing. Dropping her hand from his head, holding him tighter and snuggling further into his side is her form of surrender.

Soon enough she falls asleep. Her last thought of the day is her grudging admittance that the sleeping bag is soft and rather warm. Or maybe that is just Yakumo. Haruka doesn't really know.

* * *

**A/N:** Yet another chapter dedicated to Kaito-neechan who gave me the prompt of doing something with Yakumo's sleeping bag. I hope this is good enough! Could this be considered related to the mini-series (i.e stakeout, sleep, and investment) about sleeping? Sure!

You know, there is no way Yakumo doesn't have an intimate relationship with his sleeping bag, one that—dare I say—may even be more deep than his with Haruka's. I truly wonder where his love story with it started.

Also, I laughed when I typed out "One last night together." because wow, I am not one for innuendos. But I had to.


	20. caretaking

**Love Blossom**

_caretaking_

* * *

Gotou had brought Yakumo another case. When Yakumo walks toward Gotou's car to go and investigate the supposedly haunted factory, he expects to see Haruka following him, except, she doesn't. Yakumo stares at her.

There is a thoughtful look in her eyes as she stares at a text. "Oi," he finally calls, slightly concerned.

She looks up, but it still takes her a few seconds before she registers the look she is getting. "I... I have to go." Her voice is somewhat nervous, jittery even. "I've got something to do!"

Walking like her legs could not move fast enough, Haruka bolts away. Yakumo watches her go, his eyebrows knitted together.

* * *

He forgets about the incident over the day. Well, more like having to find out why the factory is a big beacon for suicides takes up a lot of his thinking time, on top of having to deal with the constant badgering he gets from a certain old bear who yells far, far too much—Yakumo _nearly_ forgets about his girlfriend's odd behaviour.

That is, until he arrives at Haruka's apartment and discovers the reason for it.

Kicking his shoes off, Yakumo is ready to collapse on the nearest couch and whine for Haruka to make him a cup of soothing tea and then maybe ask for her to sit beside him, but then he sees it. It sits on the couch, the very couch he aimed to sprawl over for the rest of the evening.

Yakumo feels his face twitch.

His irritation dissolves as it stares at him with bright yellow eyes that seem to go on forever. Not quite like Haruka's eyes that have depth and make him feel like he unravels a mystery every time he looks in them. These swallow him up and send him in a never-ending spiral. They remind him of other eyes, a pair of red eyes.

The trance is only broken when Haruka's voice breaks through, "I see you've met." Yakumo is surprised to see her as the one with a hand in her head, scratching it. "About this..."

Yakumo interrupts. "I don't like cats," he says, glaring at it.

"It's only for a few days! I'm pet sitting Yukio because Miki is going on a trip with her boyfriend," she explains.

Yakumo detects a hint of jealousy in her voice, but his mind ignores it, choosing to focus on the creature beside him. The second round of their staring contest has yet to cease, after all. He slowly walks towards the cat and drags up a chair, his eyes never straying.

"You're ridiculous," Haruka says. Yakumo is pretty sure she is staring at him with wide eyes, a look he would reflexively insult to wipe off her face because if it stayed too long then he would be the one staring unabashedly, but Yakumo pays it no mind right now.

Her footsteps become quieter and quieter and soon enough, he and the cat are alone. It finally blinks, moving its head to lick its paw. Yakumo feels a surge of pleasure, of triumph, run through him.

His superior feeling is kicked away when he realizes that he is still the one on a wooden chair while this cat, Yukio, sits on the couch.

* * *

Yakumo relearns that he doesn't like cats.

When Yakumo watches television, it saunters by, right in front of the screen. Golden brown tail contrasting with the bright colours that Yakumo is trying to focus on, Yukio whips his back and forth as though it were a game. The frustration only builds when Yukio starts licking itself, not a mere leg, but all of itself as he twists itself this way and that. Yakumo wonders when he tuned into the animal channel.

When Yakumo eats dinner, he is surprised to see Yukio reject the food Haruka made Yakumo lay out for him. Instead, Yukio paws at Haruka's feet, making her jump. When she sees him on the ground, staring up at her with bright eyes spreading as wide as they can, she immediately picks him up and sits him on her lap. She chooses to forgo her own food, a decision Yakumo would never agree with, to pet the creature. Yakumo is further appalled when Haruka feeds it some of her food—his eyes widen when he thinks that might have been the cat's goal from the start.

When Yakumo sleeps, he is tense. The cat is in the room. Despite setting it up a comfy abode in their living room, Yukio, once again, chose to ignore their courtesy and opts to pawing at Haruka's bedroom door. Yakumo stubbornly refuses, so Haruka greets Yukio and allows him entrance. It's when Yakumo feels a tickles by his leg and soon becomes a tail brushing his neck that he scrambles out of bed and heads for the couch.

Having trouble sleeping, he walks back to the bedroom at the middle of the night. Yukio is curled around Haruka's arm, resting his head on her shoulder. Something rises in Yakumo's chest, but he walks out before he lets himself find out what.

The cycle continues for a few days.

Yakumo learns that he really doesn't like cats.

* * *

Yukio left that morning and Gotou had just come to wrap up the case. The factory would not see any unusual suicides any time soon and Yakumo can finally catch up on all the sleep.

Right when he is about to enter the Land of Slumber, he hears a wailing off in the distance that sounds louder as the seconds tick by. Yakumo tries turning his body away from the sound.

In a few minutes, the source of the sound is standing right in front of him— Haruka holding a puppy that looks as though it is desperate to be anywhere but in her arms.

His mouth goes slack for a few seconds. When he collects himself, Yakumo immediately points to the door. "Get out."

* * *

**A/N:** I am busy for the rest of the day so I nearly didn't make this deadline. I really would have liked to spend more time with Yukio and Yakumo though, but I neither have the time nor the word limit to work with.

Fun fact: I've seen various meanings for Yukio, but one is "gets what he wants". So I've always related Yakumo to cats, but I never thought he'd actually like them himself. They're too much of a mirror for him, maybe.

Also, it's been brought to my attention by two people (thank you, anonymous Guest and Kaito-neechan) that I double-posted _share_ (chapter 19). To that, I can only say the following: oops.

The second one was right—it wasn't supposed to be there the first time. But it's fixed now so if you go back to _carrots_ (chapter 18), you should see the right chapter. I'm sorry for my mixup! Although I did have a (long) hysterical laugh when I found out about it because the views were very abnormally high. I'm assuming that was because people were confused. Ah, that was pretty amusing.


	21. habituate

**Love Blossom**

_habituate_

* * *

The smell of sugar and fresh bread fills his nose every Saturday morning. Instead of watching cartoons like children or sleeping in like most people, he finds himself at a bakery, buying pastries and cupcakes and buns.

At first, she takes him on a journey to a few places and they experiment. Some make it too hard, some have the bread too fluffy, or maybe the filling isn't quite even in all places or maybe the cream has a little (a whole lot) too much sugar.

Soon enough, they find themselves answering the return call of one special place.

Smiles spread like a gust of wind over their faces when they see the fresh bakes goods in front of them. Hums of delight fill the air as they sit down at the table in the front, their claimed table for this one time in the week. They relax into their chairs as though they were sitting on marshmallows before they grab for their treats. Her fingers twitch at the prospect of more sugar and butter crème, while his fingers busily wipe the remains from her nose, complaining about having to babysit a child while licking the crème from his finger for himself.

So, if anyone wants to find them on Saturdays before noon—well, there's only one place to look.

* * *

His classical music mocking stops when he notices her eyes shine as she talks about it.

While he enters the kitchen on a hunt for food, the soft melody of a flute meets his ears. Body relaxing and mind focusing less on his hunger and more on the music, he slows his movements down and listens to her practice.

He enters the grand auditorium alone. The seats are filled with people chatting to those around them, voice upon voices. His forehead swells with irritation and he wants to walk right out of the room. It's only when everyone become muted as the command of the conductor prompts her to start the piece with her solo does his attention pique.

The hushed sound turn into a flurry of passion and despite repeatedly hearing it recently, he is spellbound before the others join to mold a true storm. A wave of excitement sweeps through and he doesn't even notice his skin rising in bumps in response, his eyes too occupied being trained on her.

The bright light makes her glow while she performs and he makes sure to watch.

* * *

Soft, constant breathing patterns fill the air, but as the sun wades through curtains to kiss at their faces, she sucks in a deep breath and her eyes flutter open to peer at the ceiling. Her eyelids weight heavy as she relaxes back into her pillow, moving a little closer to the body beside her and wrapping a loose arm around him.

When the haziness of sleep slowly evaporates, she presses her lips to his closed eyes and arises with a sigh to start her day. A cold shower always jolts her awake, but so does a very warm one—it all depends on her split-second decision as she grips the knob.

As she finishes making her bag ready for class, she walks by the bed and climbs onto it, sitting on top of her legs as she leans over him. She patiently waits before a hand is thrust out to wave her away, but at that, she only leans in closer. Open, glaring eyes is her signal that she can finally back off with a soft smile.

She wakes up an hour early and he wakes up an hour late, which is two hours earlier than his usual.

* * *

Warm mugs are shoved in awaiting hands, hazy eyes greedily staring at the pleasant concoction as their noses give a tease as to what's to come.

They send half smiles to each other from above their mugs—across the kitchen or the table with slumped shoulders, from beside each other on the couch or balcony while their shoulders brush, or while sitting in bed as the other smiles knowingly from the doorway.

If the day starts and ends with a cup of tea, then they suppose what happens in between isn't entirely important.

* * *

**A/N:** It's all in the title.


	22. solace

**Love Blossom**

_solace_

* * *

The trees he walks past turn into blurs and suddenly the clouds and sky look like slabs of paint, he sees only whites and blues, but no actual form. His senses are overthrown but that is because they are overpowered by what he feels. It's as though the cotton of his shirt is now chainmail and the iron in his blood is laden with rust.

He stares at the greens on the ground and vaguely recalls that they're leaves. One part of his mind idly laughs at the thought of tripping over one. Another part darkly reminds him that his state of being right now is pathetic enough to let it happen.

He walks through the entrance of the school, the metal arc with kanji he doesn't even try to read passing over him.

"Yakumo?" he hears her voice and he sees a figure stand up from a bench. Then he sees her, really sees her—the concerned crinkle near her eyes, the stiff line her mouth is drawn at. Haruka is practically bathed in a glow as he reaches his hands out to meet hers and he collapses onto her.

He can feel her body tense under the weight of him and even after a few seconds, her body is like a wall to him. His breathing pattern is ragged and heavy as he smothers his face in her neck. Taking in a deep breath, her fresh scent of violet calms him as her body finally relaxes under him.

Fingers pinching the back of his shirt, she hugs him back tightly. He has no intention of letting go of this peace he just found and she only plans on complying.

"It's okay," Haruka says, gently rubbing his back.

And he is, for now.

* * *

She sits with him later at his club room, her fingers easily slide into Yakumo's. His head rests on her shoulder, his eyes closed in peace. Dealing with things can come later. Yakumo reasons with himself that it's not considered procrastination if this moment is what he needs, then it can be considered a priority.

Haruka has other things on her mind. Hesitance cages her words in her throat, but she braves on as she quietly asks, "Are you feeling better now?"

"Yes," he murmurs earnestly, giving her hand a small squeeze that sends a ripple of warmth all over her.

He takes a breath and reminds himself that the words are easier to say now. "Thank you." And he's right, they are easier. He's had some practice with her.

She hears the sincerity in his voice and her heart swells while her automatic response rolls off her tongue. "It was nothing."

Yakumo grunts immediately. "Don't do that," he scolds.

"What?" she asks.

Her shoulder immediately misses his warmth when he lifts himself up to make eye contact. His red eye shines back at her, enrapturing her like the presence of a rose, but the serious tone of his voice drags her back.

"Act like what you did wasn't important."

He releases her hand and grabs a small piece of her hair and tugs it, her head moving along with it. "I understand, I understand," she says, rubbing the spot when he lets go before lowering his head back down to her shoulder.

The moment she drops her hand, he makes sure to catch it.

* * *

**A/N:** Love doesn't mean problems suddenly disappear or get easier to bear, but it does mean you don't have to keep the burden to yourself.


	23. morning

**Love Blossom**

_morning_

* * *

She is standing by her open closet. A heap of clothes lay next to her feet, haphazardly thrown away, but she seems to pay it no mind as her hand curiously pulls back some clothes at one end to reveal others. They are much whiter, much larger and much less form-fitting than her usual, he sees. He marks it up to her curiousity, the cursed thing that leads her to unbutton one of his shirts and slip it on over her tank top.

The sleeves consume her hands so she rolls them up before buttoning the top of the shirt, walking in front of her closet mirror as she does. He notices that the shorts she wore to sleep are hidden, looking at though she is wearing nothing but the thin shirt.

White fabric swelling over her, she looks far too small in his shirt and the thought makes Yakumo finally look away.

This is different from the mornings where he has a first row seat to her personal fashion shows. This is different from when he looks at those shirts every day, never really caring for his fashion sense even though Haruka scolds him for never thinking outside of the box. It's different because it's not the same when it's on her.

When he looks back at her, she is still appraising her appearance in the mirror by straightening the collar and tugging on the ends of his shirt. When she does a slow twirl, her eyes spot his and she lets out a quiet gasp of surprise.

Yakumo snorts. "Getting ready?" he asks. He tries to put as much snide into his voice as he can.

Haruka turns back to the mirror and Yakumo spots her reflection blush a little. He guiltily finds that her embarrassment from being caught sets him at ease. She answers, "For my morning classes." Her morning weariness is still in her voice.

Yakumo's eyebrows crinkle as his confusion sets in. A few seconds of contemplation leads him to play along. "Why go to class when you can go to bed?" he asks.

"Your personal school motto is not mine." He sees the back of her head shake. "Some of us are responsible."

His witty response is stopped before it even begins when she mutters a quick apology before starting to unbutton the shirt. The guilt rides over and he makes sure his voice is clear. "Come here."

Her motions stop and she bounds over, hopping onto the bed to sit in front of his body. A hand is all it takes to drag her down to his level and he immediately wishes his legs weren't fully clothed as he twists one around her soft ones.

The warmth of her skin burns through his shirt to scorch him, but he happily invites it. His fingers reach for the collar she had been playing with earlier and he moves it away to reveal her collarbone, placing a small kiss on there. Her shiver allows him to say, "It looks good on you."

Her hand immediately comes up to lie on his chest and he can hear her content. "Better than it looks on you?"

Yakumo sighs, happily frustrated, and is about to answer when a text alerts her to her phone from the table beside him and she turns away for a moment. Her eyes widen and she mutters, "That can't be the time," before throwing her sheets off and bolting outside.

With his newfound warmth noticeably gone, Yakumo decides to use the sound of running water from Haruka's shower as background music to his nap.

The next time he finds himself awake, he sees her once again in front of the closet. She just finished putting on her signature heels, even though half of her is still undressed as she stands in her tank. He already misses seeing her in his shirt.

It's when she's trying to get her sweater on that Yakumo decides to speak up. "Do you know what day it is?"

Haruka pauses and her voice is muffled from under her sweater. "Wait," she drawls before managing to poke her head through the fabric, her arms still bare. "Is it Friday or Thursday?"

"And Gotou insults me for losing touch with reality," he mutters to himself. Right before Haruka is about to protest, he deadpans, "It's Saturday." Neither of them have a class today. "Check the calendar."

She toys with her phone for a few seconds before throwing the sweater to the ground. "Oops."

Minutes later, she is sitting over the blanket, laying on the bed. She is wide awake now and he knows her frustration is from the simple reason that she wishes she were not.

"You should have listened to my motto," he says smugly before kissing the corner of her mouth, trying to wash away the pout it had transformed into.

Yakumo decides to say his farewells to morning and sleep for a few more hours until he's woken up by afternoon.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm sure we've all had days like Haruka.


	24. emergency

**Love Blossom**

_emergency_

* * *

She is in her class that ends the latest and she is dreading going home in the dark. Professor Furuya is in the middle of inciting a discussion on the class system society in the 16th century based on the class novel they read when Haruka gets the call. She bolts out of the classroom and trusts her friends to drop her books off at her apartment later.

Her text books are the last thing on her mind as she hurriedly raises her hand to hail a taxi.

When Haruka reaches the hospital, she mumbles her question to the man behind the desk and is led down a series of hallways. She quietly follows and after a few turns, she sees a distinct white shirt and runs ahead of her escort.

Yakumo sits on a bench with his shoulders slumped over his body while his elbows rest on his knees. His posture makes her heart sink, but the way his hair frames his face hurts more because all she can see is his mouth set in a grim line.

He waits, alone.

Quietly thanking the man who led her there, Haruka sits down and consciously leaves a little space between her and Yakumo.

His back looks like it carries the weight of the world with it.

Haruka has seen him look like this once before and is even more scared to see that it can happen again, under different circumstances.

Gotou-san had called Yakumo out for another case, needing the help more than usual since Ishii-san was out of the city, gone to visit his parents. Yakumo teased the detective more than usual that day and Haruka thought he was actually going to turn him down for once when he looked at Haruka. She only shrugged. After that, he accepted.

The call had told her that they were in an abandoned apartment, but that was a trick. They should not have gone there—but Haruka wonders; where else would they have started this fresh case? The second Gotou wandered off to further investigate the living room while Yakumo headed toward the bedroom was when the perpetrator made his move.

Haruka imagines that Yakumo only heard a loud grunt, probably a thud and footsteps running through the door before he arrived to the scene.

He probably also blames himself. Taking one more glance at the way he sits, she corrects herself. She knows he blames himself.

Haruka bitterly recalls the times when Yakumo would mock her and Gotou-san for feeling things too personally. She knows the detective and her aren't too different. They both put their heart and tears on the line to help each other, and they blame themselves when things don't go like they should—like they believe they should.

And they both have a habit of bringing their troubles to Yakumo when they're stuck at a loss themselves.

Her and Gotou-san are the same.

But for all the complaining Yakumo does each time they bring him a new case, he never actually rejects their pleas.

In terms of investing himself into cases, Yakumo is sometimes the biggest culprit himself. For a man that tries to keep up an indifferent and cold front to keep people away, Haruka knows he also has a habit of putting himself in a position where he's overly involved and ends up caring. Just a little too much of his heart is put there, a little too often does his mind wonder how to allow a ghost to become truly at peace.

The three of them are the same.

Gotou-san and Yakumo would reject that thought instantly, she almost smiles thinking about it. But they are.

Maybe that's why he and Gotou-san manage to stay with each other, and why they find themselves saving each other over and over again.

But he couldn't this time.

She worries for him though, he has not slept. She knows Yakumo is not one to idle, so she only assumes he solved the case before allowing himself to wait here. Haruka sees it in the wrinkles on his shirt and the dirt on his shoes. No, he did not idle.

The silence is a drum beating in her ear and she stands up to get away from it. The hallway echoes her steps and she scurries away quickly.

The white walls and hushed quiet of the main waiting room is a nice change from the suffocating hallway she was in. She feels guilty. Why is she allowed to get away when Yakumo cages himself there?

Haruka makes a decision.

She walks back, determined, with a cup of coffee in her hand. When she stands in front of the bench, suddenly there are hands around her neck, stopping her. She fights them back as she takes a seat, making sure to brush their thighs to sit closer than before.

Grabbing one of his hands away from his face, she lays it atop her thigh. Gently, she pries his fingers away from each other to uncurl his fist. His fingers are cold and that only makes her hurry to place the warm cup of coffee in his hand.

He grips the drink for a second before raising his head and looking at her. His red eye shines a bright hue that roses wish they could be, but her heart throbs when she sees both of his eyes glisten.

Fingers twitching, she yearns to touch his cheek and offer some form of comfort, anything better than this, but she is not sure. She does not know what to do for him.

So instead, Yakumo chooses. He sets the coffee down and takes her hand instead. When he feels his hand finally warm, he shifts closer and lays his head on top of her shoulder.

They wait, together.

* * *

**A/N:** Gotou is okay. Or at least, he will eventually recover from the injuries he received.

And spoiler alert—it is safe to assume what happened with his uncle has happened already.


	25. affectionate

**Love Blossom**

_affectionate_

* * *

Haruka has a problem. She is being robbed of her sleep lately.

The bigger problem is that she can name the culprit, but she still can't do anything about it.

Thinking back, Haruka thinks she made a first mistake when she told Yakumo it was okay for him to go to sleep before her, that he didn't have to wait for her to fall asleep first.

It took her awhile to notice, but one day, she had trouble going to bed and noticed that his breathing pattern never changed. So she asked him about it. Of course, he avoided answering, but she put the pieces together and after thinking about it, the guilt made her ask that he stopped. Thankfully, he complied.

However, that led to another problem. Instead of him, Haruka is the one who usually falls asleep first, now that there's hardly anything stopping Yakumo from floating in the clouds the second his head lands on the pillow.

After the first night, Haruka observed something unnatural. After a couple of more nights, she believed she had enough evidence to call it a discovery.

* * *

A few inches of space lie between them, enough to allow for comfortable movement. Neither of them ever sleeps on the very ends of the bed, but choose to meet somewhere in the middle. Today, Yakumo curls up in a blanket, and Haruka does the same, cocooning herself to warm up during the cold evening.

Their legs minimally brush, but that is the most contact they have as they try to find sleep. Haruka desperately urges her mind to rest. Counting sheep does nothing for her and a glass of milk only makes her stomach feel off for the rest of the night, so she has to resort to counting on her exhaustion and her ability to control her own subconscious and make it shut up.

When several minutes pass and Yakumo's breathing slows and deepens, she wonders if trying to find sleep is the reason it so easily evades her.

She feels a weight on her midriff, his arm, and knows that she has a few minutes to go to sleep before she is stuck staying awake for a lot longer. It is a war between her and her mind.

Like every other night this week, Haruka loses because of the way her muscles tense and her thoughts zoom by so fast that she forgets sleeping is her goal.

She is no longer surprised when the arm around her suddenly becomes a chest pressed to her face. His shirt is unbuttoned and her nose grazes his skin before she slightly leans back. Yakumo's body merely drags along with her and suddenly Haruka is near the edge of the bed.

Pausing, she wonders how Yakumo manages to so easily hog the bed.

The thought vanishes when she remembers that she has to leave extra early tomorrow to meet with her orchestra. Making the most of her uncomfortable position, Haruka decides to let her face rest comfortable against the pillow and lays her cheek on Yakumo's chest. She smiles when his breathing pattern suddenly changes from the coolness of her skin against his.

Sleep finally starts whispering in her ear and she is ready to let it take her away, but then Yakumo moves—his arm around her tightens and almost completely encapsulates her. Haruka nearly groans. She is scooted even further to the edge.

Trying out a new manoeuvre, she twists her body away from him and slowly scoots backwards, using her back as a shield for a defensive attack.

Haruka lets out a mental cheer when it works—it actually works!—and Yakumo is pushed to his original spot in the middle and his hold on her slackens.

A squeak makes its way out of her as she feels his hand climb up back around her and suddenly, she is pulled against him, her back meeting his chest. His warmth passes through her clothes and she feels her back get warmer.

She is surprised once again when his cold hand slips further down and around her to press against her stomach. She instantly takes in a deep breath while her toes curl. Her shirt had ridden up a little and the skin-on-skin contact has her hissing.

Haruka is way too awake to go to sleep, and she really, really needs the sleep.

The one beside her doesn't help her situation. Still asleep, Yakumo's voice is practically at her ear. "Soft," she hears him murmur, his breath blowing against her. "And warm," he adds when he draws her closer against him.

She has nowhere to move once again, but she hardly pays that attention as she tightly shuts her eyes. It does naught to make her see anything other than red while her cheeks warm. Haruka doesn't even want to guess where her blush starts because she is sure she can feel it from all over.

Letting out a long, steady breath, Haruka promises herself never to tell Yakumo of the things that go on when he falls asleep. It would be a favour to both her and to him.

* * *

Haruka has a problem. She is being robbed of her sleep lately. She chooses to put up with the theft, however, and considers it a nightly treat instead.

* * *

**A/N: **People do weird things when they're asleep. I'm not that much of a cuddler (unlike some people that I know can't fall asleep without smothering their pillows), but I've had a few sleepwalking cases and I've also been told by a few people that I speak in my sleep.


	26. baking

**Love Blossom**

_baking_

* * *

The normal instinct for anyone who is suddenly woken from their pleasant late evening nap due to the sharp smell of something burning, Yakumo figures, is to first cover themselves with a blanket and pretend it's a dream, and then eventually work up to jumping out of bed and running toward the source.

His pace slows once Haruka is standing in front of the oven with a pair of mitts on.

"Are you trying to set us on fire? Dying together is not nearly as romantic as the world seems to think," Yakumo says, casually leaning against the fridge.

The tray, the source of the smell, is held by her mitted hands. "They would have come out well if Miki hadn't called." Her voice is lined with regret. Casting one final glare down, she ruthlessly dumps the parchment paper, along with the burnt lumps, into the trash.

Her floral oven mitts are thrown onto the counter and Haruka takes a seat at the small dining table. Yakumo sits across from her.

Her frustration is rolling off in waves and he decides talking will help set her at ease. "Are you going to explain?" he asks.

She instantly perks up at that, sitting up in her chair and uncrossing her arms, and Yakumo has to work to wipe the relief off his face. "I'm making them for Nao tomorrow! I promised her, remember?"

The last time they went to visit the temple together was when Haruka went over with dango from her mother's visit. His cousin had ruined the food by tripping in the midst of her glee and Yakumo was going to laugh at the incident had it not set off a round of waterworks. A promise for more sugary things was how Haruka managed to console her.

Yakumo nods and his thoughts land on Nao. "So, what are we baking?"

At his intentional choice of words, Haruka smiles and Yakumo looks down at the print of the table mat.

She stands up and he sees the determination back in her eyes. "Cookies," she says.

* * *

Yakumo is surprised when Haruka holds out an apron for him. In return, he gestures to herself, still wearing regular clothes. A glare and a few words is all it takes for Yakumo to understand that Haruka has to make the point that she even though she appreciates his help, she does not trust him to be anything but a disaster. It's a weird feeling for him to have the tables turned on him, but he still takes the apron. And then proceeds to place it back, to making his point. Haruka huffs.

He finds that he spends most of his time standing by the fridge to watch her. During that time, he learns that Haruka seems to be quite capable at baking. Her cooking is not bad, it's not worse than his at all, but her skill was more clumsy and experimental.

When she snatchrd away his mixing bowl to better efficiently mix the ingredients, she answers his silent question and says it was once a hobby she did with her mom that died down when she moved away from home for school. Noting the way she deftly moves around the kitchen and happily tastes the dough, plans form in his head to ask for more homemade baked goods.

Eventually, Yakumo ends up with a spoon in his mouth and Haruka scrunches her face at him, but backs away when he pretends to lean in for a kiss.

While waiting for the cookies, they both end up on the couch. Haruka sits up while Yakumo reclines with his head resting on her lap. He holds his book up away from his face, but it clashes with Haruka's own book and then it's suddenly a death match for best glare. Eventually, Yakumo is the one who waves the white flag but still considers himself the winner as he savours the feeling of Haruka's hand running through his hair while her other hand holds the book she reads.

The timer (Yakumo had insisted to use one this time so her previous mistake wouldn't be repeated) goes off and he is at the oven before Haruka.

"I could have sent a ghost to everlasting peace by now."

Haruka ignores him and walks back with the oven mitts on. She rests the cookie tray on the counter and looks at them appreciatively, a smile on her face.

The new sweet smell in the air makes Yakumo take in a deep breath. He thinks he can do this baking thing again.

After the cookies cool, Haruka blows on one and holds it out for Yakumo. He takes a bite and his eyes immediately close. He hums in delight.

Haruka eats the rest of it and comments, "Not bad."

Yakumo glares at her and in the next few minutes, four cookies are gone and Yakumo's mouth is covered in cookie crumbs.

Upon seeing her raised eyebrows, Yakumo defends himself. "I have to make sure they're edible for Nao."

* * *

When Haruka returns from her late night shower and steps into the kitchen to pack Nao's little gift, the towel in her hair drops. Only four cookies sit on the tray.

"Yakumo."

Her gaze instantly pierces Yakumo's back, who faces away from her and into the couch.

"I don't have ingredients to make another batch! Or time," she adds.

He finally speaks when she pokes his side and makes him jump.

"...I'll drive you to the grocery store."

Haruka insists they go to a less established grocery store so they can buy a pack of cookies that don't look too store-bought. She can only hope that Nao's intuition isn't somehow linked to her ability to communicate thoughts. The pain of betrayal would be too much.

But at least she could always blame Yakumo.

* * *

**A/N:** I very nearly did not make the last few updates in time, but I'm determined to keep this up. One more week until the end!


	27. touch

**Love Blossom**

_touch_

* * *

Haruka likes the way Yakumo feels.

His chest is broad and firm to rest on, his shoulders are nice to grab onto and she enjoys the feeling of his muscles tightening when he hugs her. But she especially likes his hands and neck.

Before, the only times she came into contact with his hands were when he had to save her. She hardly took notice of them other than to note how his fingers coiling around her wrist jolted a feeling of relief through her whenever he helped drag her to safety.

His hands now touch hers without rhyme or reason. She notices how they are just like the rest of him—thin and frail, but still very strong, very striking. They brush her cheeks like they're the silkiest of satins, his fingers barely skimming the surface but leaving flames in their wake. When she arises in the morning with sweaty hair matted against her face, his fingers curl her hair around her ears and lightly pinch her nose before greeting her.

When they lazily sit down together, she takes his hand and spreads his fingers. She strokes the back of each twice, admiring them. Eventually, she turns his hand up but she bypasses his palm and her fingers immediately touch the dark, faded scar by his thumb. It is a reminder to her, a reminder that she had scarred him while he had saved her.

She brings his hand up to her lips and her mind whispers her words of gratefulness as she places a gentle kiss on his scar.

* * *

Before, she only had the courage to casually kiss his shoulder, his collarbone and maybe she would dare to kiss upward, but he always placed a hand on her cheek and brought her lips to his. She would happily oblige, ignoring the stab in her mind telling her that something was wrong.

She experienced the same happening over and over, but she put the pieces together much later and realized the shadow of his childhood would harbour him as a slave for awhile. His mother may not be there, but her presence still remained around his neck—her fingers had created an imaginary barrier.

She decided to hold back for awhile, but one day, when she found him with downcast eyes and shoulders hunched over, she hugged him from behind and pressed her lips to his neck in comfort. He immediately grasped her hands in front of him and her heart warmed—she felt a change.

When she kisses him now, she eventually makes her way down to his neck. Fingers skim the area and when he tilts his head up, she is greeted by a long, pale plain. She nips at his neck, shyly at first but then with confidence after he further tilts his head up. When he slips a small groan, she smiles and presses a chaste kiss to the sensitive area before leaning up once more to kiss him. Her fingers brush where her lips had been and she slows the kiss down, softly thanking him for his permission.

Haruka especially likes Yakumo's hands and his neck.

* * *

Yakumo likes the way Haruka feels.

Her fingers quite easily envelope in his, her hair tickles as it slips through his fingers and he enjoys grazing her warm cheek while she's blushing. But he especially likes her hair and mouth.

Before, she hid her haircut from him. She claimed to be too busy to visit the club room and he was glad to be rid of her (or so he used to tell himself), but when he saw her next, she was wearing a sunhat. Eventually, she took it off and when he stared, wondering why she had worn the ridiculous thing in the first place, he saw her blushing and reaching for the hat. Brushing away her hair, he placed it on her himself. Momentarily, he noted how her hair thrilled his fingers.

When he sits on her couch now, watching as she grabs a glass of water with a towel hanging around her neck, he beckons her over. She sits beside him and he slides her, reaching across to lay her and her towel down on his lap. Her eyes immediately close and he finds that her hair is barely damp as his hand digs into her hair. He grasps at the strands, gently pulling on them as she relaxes her body on the couch. She sighs at the familiar feeling and he spends another few minutes toying with her soft hair.

* * *

Before, she would hesitate. She wasn't scared to kiss him and would always gently respond when he kissed her, but she only gave quick pecks. Very quickly, he realized it wasn't because she didn't want to do more, but because she was not sure if he wanted her to so she let him set the tone. Even more quickly, he proved to her that there was no need for reservations.

When her eyes flicker for just a moment, from his eyes to his lips—he sees. In an instant, his hand is at the back of her head and his mouth is on hers. They are slow at first, but then her hand makes its way to his hair and he immediately needs her closer, angling her mouth and kissing harder. It takes her by surprise and she gasps, so he slows, trying to be softer. He is astonished when, instead, she greets him with the same roughness he had given her.

They pull away, breathing heavily, but staying mere millimetres away with their foreheads touching. He hears her breathing but his senses are all dull. His mind concentrates only on the way her mouth hangs open, greedy for air. His nose grazes hers and she closes her eyes, leaning forward for another kiss. He smiles; he has no problem granting her one.

Yakumo especially likes Haruka's hair and her mouth.

* * *

**A/N: **This one is exactly 999 words and is much less drabbley than the others, so I think that means I'm getting cocky and I need to reign myself in (that was a joke, please don't misunderstand).

Fun fact: The first time I ever wrote a kiss scene longer than just a few words (ex. His lips met hers), I ended up blushing. Writing and talking about something in casual conversation are very different experiences.


	28. haunt

**Love Blossom**

_haunt_

* * *

Haruka doesn't understand.

She considers her life to be a fairly easy one. She comes from a loving family with a mom and a dad. They own a restaurant so food was always on the table, and her parents dedicated themselves to saving up for her education which means it's not as big of a problem for her as it is for others.

Sure, losing a sister was hard to bear—is hard to bear—and it shows in her every move, in her thoughts, in her need to want to please those treasures and her desire to take care of them, but Haruka doesn't consider it all too bad.

Because most importantly, she doesn't have to worry about ghosts, not the way Yakumo does.

It's in his everyday life. Before, Haruka never really realized just what that meant. It took seeing Yakumo daily, being around him for hours and hours, to realize just how much of his life is affected by ghosts.

It is there when she takes him to a coffee shop and smiles as she breathes in the smell of fresh French vanilla and she turns to talk, but his face is stony. It is there when she is complaining about how she has four papers due in a week and she stops when she hears him murmuring words not meant for her. It is there when she is playful and kisses him awake, but he doesn't smile when his eyes finally open because his gaze is pierced somewhere behind her. And even when she turns around, she doesn't know where.

It is also there today.

"You have never," he says.

"I swear!" Haruka can see him rolling his eyes, but she scoffs at him. She could prove him wrong. "I have pulled two all-nighters before, and I can do it again."

Yesterday might have been a night where it was necessary, the clutches of education psychology never let her run free for too long, but today will be a night to prove her sheer will.

Besides, Yakumo plans to stay up and analyze the case reports on his latest ghost case so its only fair that she do the same.

"If I see you asleep at 3AM then in the morning, I want...He's looking for you. You're not there anymore, are you?"

The way his eyes glaze over, his speech suddenly hushed and soft, careful, almost the kind of gentleness he gives to her when they're hiding under their blankets and trying to escape the day for a few minutes together—he shows it to them and Haruka knows she is no longer apart of the conversation.

Haruka sees it happening, but she doesn't understand. Can never truly understand, she believes, until she wakes up with a red eye and is forced to bear his burden alongside him.

Yakumo sees the way it pains her.

"Hey," he calls when he no longer sees a figure hovering beside her. They always stand beside her, as though the ghosts know something he doesn't.

"Hey you."

He sighs. "It's not your fault. " The blunt route it is. He always excels at that. "You can stop looking at me like a sad puppy. This has been my whole life."

Haruka purses her lips. "I just..." she trails off and squeezes her hand, shutting her eyes while she speaks. "I just wish I could do more. I want to help."

"Busybody," he murmurs, his hand scratching his head. "You can't ever sit down and keep quiet, can you?" His heart softens when he sees her staring down at the ground. A step closer lets him reach out to unclench her fist and hold her hand. "You've done enough."

She grips his hand tighter. "How?"

Her voice breaks and Yakumo feels her words crawl under his skin like an electric current. They sting him.

"You didn't run the first time." He rethinks why the ghosts always appear next to her. Maybe he does know what the ghosts do. Maybe they see her kindness, her warmth, her life. Maybe they want to be around it, in hopes of coveting it for themselves.

Yakumo knows he covets it too, her warmth. He takes whatever he can get.

Her fingertips graze the skin under his eye. It flutters close for a few moments, and he is once again met with her wide eyes.

Haruka's voice is raspy when she finally says, "Because your eye is beautiful."

And so are you, his mind whispers. "Not everyone thinks that. And you also... you care for me."

"I love you."

"That," he says pointedly. "I'm happy with just that."

* * *

**A/N: **More than happy, but you'll never hear it from him.

I did a dumb thing and started reading a series (which I wasn't going to do this month!), but I'm almost done so I refuse to stop now. And unrelated, but if any of you want to read the light novels then laute on tumblr is translating them and I definitely recommend checking them out! The latest chapter (7.02) is a goldmine because of Haruka's family.


	29. jogging

**Love Blossom**

_jogging_

* * *

Sleep is a good thing, at least Yakumo believes it is. It revitalizes and rejuvenates and all of those other words skin commercials use to market their product.

This is why he doesn't quite understand why anyone would forgo one of the world's simplest pleasures to get up early in the morning just to go run around the block and become a hot and sweaty mess.

(Un)luckily for him, Haruka is that kind of person.

It used to happen once in awhile, but soon enough, it becomes a routine.

He hardly awakens when she leaves and on the rare chance that he does, a few hushed whispers and gentle caresses on his cheeks are all he needs before he heads back to sleep. Her jogging routine hardly bugs him.

Until now, of course.

* * *

"I can smell you."

"You smell me before you see me? This must be love."

The sarcasm dripping from her voice almost makes him smile. Gotou would probably complain about Haruka taking on Yakumo's bad traits.

His eyes finally open and he sees her smiling above him.

"Hey."

She leans in and Yakumo leans up. He hears her laughing when she merely kisses his nose. The glare comes naturally to him.

"You can lay around for awhile. I need to go shower. I stink, according to you." She is smiling and Yakumo notes her unusually high spirits but ignores that in favour of something else. He hears the familiar tease in her voice, but he doesn't miss the hint of another thing. "I'll be back."

His hand instantly shoots out, catching her wrist. He doesn't like when he takes his comments too seriously. Besides, he likes her scent after jogging. There's the smell of her, but she also carries the scent of her perfume, something floral—he still has to figure out what exactly, and the dew of the morning.

Eyes meeting hers, he doesn't know what to say. So he does what he knows he can. He pulls her to him and she tumbles down, almost crushing him, but he doesn't care as he digs his face into the crook of her neck.

He breathes in deeply, enough so that his nose tickles her. "Hurry back."

* * *

The smell of peaches and pomegranates reach his nose and Yakumo sees her walk into the living room. She grabs the cup of tea he left for her on the counter and walks back to sit beside him.

But he sees something. There's an extra spring in her step, a happy buzz around her and her smile, the one he had seen when he woke up, is still there. Even as she sits beside him and takes a sip of the tea, it is still there.

"Do you like the tea?"

She idly hums, her thoughts reorganizing to think about his words. "Oh yeah, it's good. Thanks."

"The tea can't be that good."

"Huh?"

"You haven't stopped smiling since you walked in. Did you help a woman give birth during your jog?"

Haruka's elbow digs into his side. "It was a good run. I feel really energized," she says airily.

But she avoids his eyes and Yakumo almost laughs at her attempt to conceal her thoughts. The very act of doing so laid her open in front of him. "Did you meet a guy?"

It's a joke. An honest joke, something he always used to poke fun at before they had a relationship and she usually retaliated with a sharp negative response.

Not this time. She freezes and that makes him stop to. He stares at her. Something bubbles in him.

Haruka's hands are up in defence after taking in his carefully composed expression. "I made a jogging buddy." Her voice is calm, trying to ease any pricks she thinks there might be in Yakumo's mood.

He nods.

Yakumo can tell she is testing the waters and he almost lets himself be more distracted by her reactions than her words. Almost. "We are going to meet tomorrow morning again."

Deciding his tea is more important, Yakumo ends the topic. "Whatever."

* * *

But it's not whatever.

He wakes up early that morning. He hasn't set an alarm but he isn't surprised when he looks out the window and sees the shadow of the night waging war with the sun. He is also not surprised to see her out of bed.

Sleep is still in his eyes and his feet as he drags them to fix himself a cup of tea. He decides to go out to the balcony and gets a chair. He is unimpressed by the sunset and his interest is only truly piqued when he sees two figures standing below, crossing the street towards his apartment building. He is tight-lipped as he sees them disappear out of his sight and watches someone, her jogging buddy, walk across the street and collapse on a bench. He turns away and walks back into the living room before he feels his mind prick him more.

He is berating himself on being a child when she walks in with a smile. Her mood is up again. Usually her lips turning up so brilliantly would make him soften but now, he only feels it gnawing at him.

"Oh, you're awake!"

It takes him a few moments to respond. "Did you have fun?" Ah, there it is. His contempt. He nearly bites his lip at it coming out.

Her eyes widen. "Are you..."

When she finally continues, her voice is calm. In response, a bundle of irritation washes over him. "You know, I thought it was weird that he suddenly started running, especially when he could barely keep up."

She is quiet before he impatiently asks, "What are you talking about?"

"It's Miki's boyfriend. He was asking for proposal tips."

"Oh."

* * *

**A/N:** I'm not a big fan of using jealousy as a writing tool, but the image of brooding, jealous Yakumo was just too amusing for me not to play around with him being jealous, even if just a little.


	30. similar

**Love Blossom**

_similar_

* * *

**A/N:** Slight (situational) spoilers for manga readers who have not watched the anime or are far enough with the light novels.

* * *

"You walk too fast."

"You just walk too slow."

"You have longer legs than me," she points out.

"It doesn't make you any less incompetent at walking."

Haruka huffs, but her expression brightens when she sees the familiar house come into view. Her excitement lets her finally overtake Yakumo as she leaves him behind to ring the doorbell.

She is greeted with smiles and warm eyes when she steps in.

The gathering is fun. Gotou-san's house is decorated, for no real reason really, but Nao had wanted to see everyone for awhile so they decided to throw something. They all feel like they owe the girl more happiness in life than she has.

The attention is on her and Yakumo, courtesy of Gotou-san, but it moves to Ishii when his biggest fall of the night topples over a table, the one with the three different types of cookies Gotou-san's wife made. Everyone laughs. Atsuko accepts his apology for ruining her hard work while he is on the ground, trying to pick up the bakes goods while simultaneously grovelling for forgiveness. Nao only laughs and laughs at seeing Ishii's face and at that, everyone still smiles long after their laughter fades.

She sees the ends of Yakumo's lips turned up and Haruka thinks it's a good day.

* * *

When hours pass, she and Atsuko end up alone.

"I'm sorry for my husband. He talks the most when he shouldn't."

Haruka waves it away and laughs. "It's fine. He does it to bug Yakumo."

"Actually, about you and Yakumo-kun, you both seem..." Her head tilts to the side, her lips pursed. "Different. You're much closer, more together than you used to be."

Haruka smiles. She thinks about the warmth she feels around him and some of that slips into her words. "I think so too." And then her expression falters.

"But?" Atsuko prompts.

Haruka almost smiles at that. The older woman became like a mentor to her lately. Almost like her relationship with her mother—there was respect and there was also friendship. But what she has to say overrules her thoughts.

"There's a barrier. Sometimes it feels like he's letting me in, but then other times, it's like he's shutting me out and it's confusing." The words come out in a rush, just barrelling through her. "But it's more than that. Sometimes...sometimes, I feel ignored."

It surprises her a little. She hadn't even hinted her friends to that one.

"It's..." Haruka falters. She always falters during the most important parts.

"Lonely." Atsuko supplies for her.

She meets her eyes. "Yeah."

A silence lingers over them. With Atsuko, it's never an uncomfortable one. You can't really fall into those with her.

Haruka thinks about the days when she is talking to Yakumo and he suddenly announces he wants to head a nap. Or when she sees him after a long day and wants nothing more to have her hands in his hair and kiss him hard enough to forget the past few hours but he won't spare her a glance. Or when she talks to him over a meal and he responds with clipped answers while she grasps for anything to talk to him about.

Haruka is the one to break the silence. The words come out of her mind as she thinks them. "How can you be in a room with someone, and see them all the time, but still feel like there's millions of miles between you?"

Atsuko shrugs. "Sometimes I feel closer to him when he's not here." Haruka's heart twists for the woman in front of her. "You can miss him and miss him when he's away, but it's not like anything nothing changes when he's standing right in front of me. I miss him even then."

Haruka watches her carefully. Her features are warm as always, but not as soft. They are more controlled right now. The words might have come as easily, but Haruka thinks that if she looks into Atsuko's eyes long enough, she will be able to see the layers and layer of loneliness that had built up over the years.

It hurts Haruka to admit that she wishes that she won't end up like that.

Her fingers clench into a fist. If anything, Haruka realizes, she is the one in the better position.

"It's not your fault." She stares Atsuko straight in the eyes as she says this. It's important, imperative even, that she knows. "You are not the reason it happened. But I can't say that Gotou-san is either."

"Thank you, Haruka-chan."

As always, Atsuko's words make Haruka feel warm all over.

"It doesn't happen as often anymore. Things are better for us. He is home more, and he smiles more." Atsuko smiles while she talks and Haruka can't help but imitate it.

"Is it because of Nao-chan?" Haruka has to ask.

"I think so."

"Then things will only get even better." Even she doesn't know if she says that out of hope or true belief.

Suddenly, Atsuko's eyes brighten suddenly."They're a lot alike, actually. Yakumo and my husband. So if he can come around, then so can Yakumo. My husband distanced us from the start, but Yakumo seems to be doing the opposite."

Haruka nods. He is trying to bridge the gap. It hurts her that he doesn't say anything at all sometimes, but Haruka does see him struggling to say things.

"Just give him some more time. He might be young, but old habits still die hard."

Haruka tries for a feeble smile. She is grateful for Atsuko's words. The answer was always obvious, she knew it, but she needed to hear it from someone else too.

Atsuko continues, "Besides, I have never before seen the same pair of eyes glare at someone and in less than a minute later, look ready to open a shrine for them."

Haruka laughs to cover up her blush.

* * *

**A/N:** Lady bonding! I'm a fan of Atsuko and Haruka getting along.


	31. fight

**Love Blossom**

_fight_

* * *

It happens during the day. Yakumo doesn't know if he saw it coming or if he is surprised by it.

That night, he decides to leave their apartment and sleep elsewhere.

As he rests in the comforts of his sleeping bag, he looks around the room. The club room is the same as always. It gives him a small sense of glee.

Yet, he can't seem to fall sleep.

He pushes his anger away at their first serious argument and thinks about her. They have slept apart before, it wasn't preferable, but he always found sleep.

What makes tonight so different?

* * *

He sees her the next day when he returns to the apartment. Just for a few moments, before he goes back to fixing himself a cup of tea. Fight or no, after a night of trying to bargain with the Sand Man and losing, Yakumo thinks he deserves a warm cup of life.

The prickle he feels go down his spine lets him know she is watching him.

When he turns around, she is busy paying attention to the television screen. She doesn't give him a glance when he closes the door. Yakumo doesn't know if that pleases or irritates him.

* * *

He immediately heads back to the club room and tries to catch a few hours of sleep. His classes feel significantly less important without sleep to fuel him.

Unexpectedly, but not really, Gotou decides to spring a new case on him. Even less unexpected, Yakumo decides to go along with it.

"What's gotten into you?" Gotou eventually asks. Yakumo noticed the old man giving him looks when his replies were more snappish than usual.

Yakumo almost sighs. "You should know. It's what happens when someone is around you for too long."

"Isn't it the opposite?"

"If you keep bugging me, I will fall asleep right now." Definitely not one of his stronger threat, but it's one Yakumo knows he will go through with. He wants to.

Moments of silence pass and he can feel Gotou surveying him. "Come in tomorrow. We have a lot to do." He quietly leaves.

Yakumo yawns. He thought the case was urgent, but pushes the thought away as he lets sleep finally wash over him.

* * *

He finds that he doesn't waste the day away. Some kids from a nearby college drop by and although Yakumo is not in the best of moods, he is more than happy to earn some extra cash from a simple parlour trick.

When the darkness of the night greets him, he notices again how the club room is the same. It's a familiar feeling sleeping in there, but something is different.

Now, he wonders if that familiarity is a good thing.

* * *

He walks into the station the next afternoon and is comforted to know that sleeping was an easy task for him, so easy that he slept the morning away.

His good mood is ruined when he sees her. His eyes narrow at Gotou.

The detective matches his look with a glare of his own. "You're late."

"I know."

Sensing the tension, Ishii nervously speaks, "We called your apartment and you weren't there, but Haruka-chan volunteered to make things work quicker."

She turns her face away at Ishii's words. Yakumo says nothing, not acknowledging the words.

Gotou and Ishii exchange a look and a look of understanding dawns on them both at the same time. Yakumo almost finds it funny.

At first, Gotou pokes fun. It grates on Yakumo's nerves, but soon enough, he starts to feel amused when Gotou is the irritated one.

His amusement is immediately put to an end when a metal clasp wraps around his wrist.

"I have not participated in any illegal activity in the past 24 hours that you can deem me guilty of. So tell me, why are you cuffing us together?" Yakumo tries to go for lazy and annoyed, but he thinks his voice sounds more of the latter.

"I've had enough of you both. Sort through your problems. I'll uncuff you at the end of the day."

"You're insane. What about when one of us has to go to the bathroom?"

"Figure it out. Oh wait, you're dating. Get over it."

"You have no humanity." Yakumo thinks he's losing his touch and needs to work on his comebacks.

He spends the rest of the day acting like she doesn't exist. He had been doing that the whole day, but it takes more effort now to not want to brush her hand with his and to carefully sit apart so their thighs don't brush. It helps that she is putting in effort too.

But the air between them is still silent as the day goes by. Gotou is regretful to release them.

The old man's rueful expression is almost enough to make Yakumo happy that his plan failed.

"Bye," Haruka says to them as she leaves. He is about to look away when she send him a look of her own.

Yakumo doesn't know what to make of it, but he feels his mouth go dry.

* * *

That night, he realizes what it is off about his beloved club room.

The room hasn't changed, but he sees it differently. He realizes he has grown out of it.

Yakumo can't help but wonder when that happened.

Gotou confronts him the morning. She is not there today and they left Ishii behind with paper work.

"What's going on between you two?"

He is about to reply with an insult, but he finds himself too tired. "It's complicated." Yakumo wants this conversation to end.

"I think it's convenient that it's complicated."

He glares at the old man in front of him. Now he really wants this conversation to end, so he distracts by letting him in on something he picked up about the case.

* * *

He decides to leave his sleeping bag alone and walks back to their apartment instead.

Although he doesn't quite know what he is doing, he knows it's smarter than whatever he has been doing.

* * *

**A/N: **Let those two solve their problems on their own without my help.

I'm not good at writing regularly, and I felt like the fandom lacked new fics lately so it seems this was an attempt at a solution for both things. Hopefully, I managed to give you all something worth reading.

And although I say that, this is not actually the last chapter. Please anticipate two more chapters over the course of the day to make a total of 33 chapters!


	32. longing

**Love Blossom**

_longing_

* * *

Haruka's eyes are weary; they're threatening to close on her and she fights to keep them open until she is off the elevator. Her hands fumble with the key, but she makes it through the door.

She looks at the couch contemplatively and thinks about all of the times Yakumo collapses on it and falls asleep. It doesn't sound like too bad of an idea right now.

A mug sitting on the table distracts her before she thought becomes an action. It's her favourite mug.

The contents are cold now, but she still feels it warm her as she takes a sip.

* * *

All Yakumo hears when he enters the room is the sharp click of typing as he walks in the bedroom to see her typing a storm on her laptop.

He sits beside her on the bed and cracks open a book. Not a word is exchanged between them.

Soon, the book rests on his chest while he lays on the bed with his eyes are closed.

Haruka is brought out of her stupor when his arm snakes over her legs in an awkward hug and she slithers away and heads for the desk.

Awaken by her movement, he hugs the blanket she wrapped over him and watches her back as she types away in the darkness. The table lamp bathes her in a soft glow, letting her hair shine and Yakumo thinks about walking over to touch it.

He knows he should sleep, but he watches her for a little more.

* * *

"How about going out for a walk in the city? I want to buy a few things." She doesn't, really. It's the first thing that pops into her mind. After a week of exams and spending nights and days on dates with her textbooks, she thinks she owes it to both of them.

Besides, it was time to eradicate the empty pit in her stomach, the one that wanted Yakumo to humour her with teasing or to just hold her hand, that grew every time she spent another day at the library until closing time.

"Gotou is picking me up."

She gets the message. He's busy with a case. He doesn't have time.

Haruka gulps and sends him a smile that she hopes is understanding. "Okay."

* * *

Lately, her days have slowed down and Haruka is happy to be able to take a breath of air without making a mental list of the things she needs to accomplish.

This evening, she lies on the couch and stares at the ceiling. It's almost midnight and she wonders where her night went. She rejected Miki's offer to go to the spa and movies for a night of relaxation... but for what?

Haruka shoves her face in the pillow beside her and breathes in the scent that lingers. His scent.

She answers her own question—to spend time with Yakumo, of course. But what's the point if he's not even here?

The ring of her phone draws her away from her pity party and she scrambles to answer it. "Hello."

Her breath catches when she hears his voice. "Are you at our apartment?" he asks. No greetings as usual, just straight to business. She smiles.

"I am."

"I'll be there too." His words wrap around her like a warm hug.

Haruka almost asks when exactly, but he hangs up before she can.

Her hand slaps over her face. She needs to get rid of her smile before he arrives.

* * *

She hears the click of the door and her entertaining staring contest with the ceiling finally ends as she bolts out to greet him. Her legs slow as she sees him taking off his shoes, but when he looks at her, her feelings bubble over.

Her lips meet his and she greedily kisses him, hand sliding to the nape of his neck to push him closer.

Yakumo is the one to pull away, his hands holding her cheeks. She notes, with slight embarrassment, that instead of meeting in the middle, she had dragged Yakumo down to her height. He straightens but his eyes don't leave hers and she swears there's a twinkle of amusement in them.

"You're energetic today."

"I wanted to see you," she blurts. "I missed you."

Her hands hold onto his and she thinks about his touch, marvelling at the way his thumb brushes over hers and the warmth is sends through her, and she wonders how she stayed away for so long without it.

She has no problem standing there in the doorway with him, but he leads her to their bedroom. A little sliver of disappointment makes her think he wants to quickly sleep but she quickly disregards it.

As usual, he throws himself onto the bed and yawns. Haruka is about to go make herself that frozen dinner when his hand latches onto her wrist and he tugs. Hesitantly, she climbs onto the bed.

"You need to catch on quicker," he says before he kisses her.

It's slow at first, not like the rushed one she had given her, but it picks up pace when his hand lays at her neck. Her pulse quickens and her breathing hitches in her throat. He angles her face and the kiss deepens. She hums in delight. She missed this.

He pulls away once again and Haruka's eyes are still shut as she hazily murmurs, "More," and that's enough for his lips to press against hers once again.

* * *

She spends more time remembering just how much Yakumo liked kissing her and how much she liked his hair before they both feel their tiredness catching onto them.

"I should have made more time." she finally says. "I'm sorry for being troublesome."

"I bet those were your first words."

Haruka thinks sneaking in one more kiss for the night won't hurt. Just to keep him quiet.

* * *

**A/N: **You know, Haruka and Yakumo Dating: The Chronicles could be another alternative name for this because while I was planning out the prompts, I ended up making all of them domestic-like and that was not actually my original intention. oops.

But for the real name of the fic—Love Blossom— if you googled it, you would get the song by and that is where it's from. This was written for March and presumably occurred over spring so I figured a spring-like title would fit. Also, it's a cheerful, warm song about a love that's just beginning and I aimed to get the whole drabble collection to fit that sort of mood.


	33. home

**Love Blossom**

_home_

* * *

Yakumo has three homes.

* * *

**i.**

The first is his Uncle's shrine.

He has some bad memories there. It reminds him of his middle school days. Those were the days when he saw nothing but red because that's all people saw when they looked at him—his eye.

Eventually, he stopped living there, but there was always a warm meal, a soft mattress and concern waiting for him when he came back.

He regrets it now. He should have gone there more often, visited his uncle and acted like the nephew who looked up to him, who wanted to accept all of the things the man offered him.

There are good memories from there though. He and Nao used to play hide and seek. He never did try, but she always had a smile on her face that lit up the rest of the temple. As long as Nao was laughing and smiling, everything else was okay.

He goes there now, a few times a month. Although might have refused ownership of it, he always makes his way back to clasp his hands together for his uncle.

His uncle may no longer be there to stand guard, but his presence never blows away.

* * *

**ii.**

The second is his club room.

His goal when he entered university was to live somewhere else, to separate himself from the bad memories of his previous school years.

He came upon the building and asked around about the rooms. They said it was only used for clubs. So, he made a club. One that he doubted people would want to join, and even if they did, he decided he could always ward them off.

Somehow, he managed to live, sparsely, live at school. He scavenged for food and was able to use the school showers for his needs. His uncle bought him a sleeping bag after he discovered that he was developing a back ache from sleeping on the old couch in there.

It felt like a temporary stay at a motel, but eventually, he grew used to it.

He started scraping some cash together by scamming gullible fools, which was both entertaining and profitable. And he could always use a beaker and a burner to gift himself with tea. He just had to make sure the carbon monoxide alarm was working properly.

Despite that, it used to feel a little gloomy. Gotou never wanted to stay long when he visited because of it. He thinks things changed when he met here there. He thinks she did more to change the place than add a few bottles of tea in his fridge.

He only visits there nowadays, to spend a few hours or when he needs a place to think because although it's not the best place to live, it's the home he made for himself.

* * *

**iii.**

The third is her apartment.

The first time he went over, he was surprised by how bare it was. As the months passed and he found himself over there a few more times, usually to pick something up, he found more and more things filling the space, as though just like the room, more life was slowly breathing into her.

After they began a relationship, she invited him over a few times and soon, he started inviting himself over. She never complained and he took that as permission.

He liked it there. It was nice. He could brew himself a cup of tea whenever he liked and after making extra for her one day, the smile she gave him made him do it more often.

Eventually, one too many of his shirts stayed there and he spent more time lazing around her apartment alone than he did in his club room.

Eventually, it became their apartment.

* * *

**?**

No, not three. He's missing one.

* * *

**iv.**

The fourth is just more mobile than the rest.

She is safe.

She talks to him and he finds himself listening to it, no matter how trivial. She listens to him when he talks and the clear interest in her eyes sometimes scares him but he finds comfort in it now. She greets him in the morning and is always there at night. She wards away his nightmares without meaning to, but he doesn't tell her that.

She is also dangerous.

She makes his skin burn and scathe from a gentle caress. She sends him reeling into the unknown with a touch of her lips against his. She lit a fire within him with a few words, a few moments of care, a few warm looks, and now, it has yet to go out; that scares him because if the fire grows too big, won't he burn?

He lays to sleep in it. His head rests on her lap as she combs her fingers through his hair and smooths back his eyebrows. As she leans down to leave a kiss against the corner of his mouth, his hand reaches out to brush her cheek. His eyes search hers and he can't help but think he's in good hands.

This home is less of a place, but still more of a home than the others.

Here, he loves fiercely and is loved back just as much.

* * *

Yakumo has four homes.

* * *

**A/N:** That's all, folks. So tell me—which drabble was your favourite? What are your top five, top seven, top ten?

Thanks for sticking around. I hope you enjoyed yourselves on this journey, even if just once. Have a wonderful day!


End file.
